DAKAR (Reuters) – Fourteen Malian soldiers were killed and 11 wounded on Tuesday in two separate attacks in central Mali after their vehicles struck explosive devices, the army said on Wednesday.
The incidents took place in central regions where militants with ties to al Qaeda and Islamic State regularly attack civilians, Malian soldiers, U.N. peacekeepers and other international forces.
The deployment of reinforcements in response to the latest attacks led to the killing of 31 militants, the army said in a statement.
Reuters could not independently confirm the report and no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Mali has been wracked by Islamist violence since 2012 when jihadist groups hijacked an uprising by Tuareg separatists in the north. The violence has since spread to other countries in West Africa’s Sahel region despite a costly international military response.
(Reporting by Ngouda Dione; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
