Bamako: An air raid on a rebel base “neutralised” 57 “terrorists” in northern Mali where eight soldiers were also killed in fighting, the army said Saturday.
Friday’s air force strike targeted a “terrorist base” and “violent clashes” led to the soldiers’ deaths, a statement said. The troops were targeted by “unidentified armed men” in the Archam region near the border with restive Burkina Faso and Niger, the statement said.
The civilians were considered to be loyal to rival militant groups, according to the local sources. Mali is at the epicentre of a Sahel-wide militant conflict, which has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced some two million people.
