At least 53 govt. troopers killed in terrorist raid in northeast Mali: Army

At least 53 government troops have been killed during a “terrorist attack” on a military post in northeast Mali, the army says.

The deadly attack was launched on the outpost in Indelimane in the Menaka region, said the army in a twitter post on Friday, citing a provisional death toll.

It added that the attack also resulted in “injuries and material damage” to the camp and reinforcements have been dispatched to the Indelimane area, confirming that some Malian soldiers also went missing during the raid.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The deadly incident came a month after two militant assaults claimed the lives of 40 soldiers near the border with Burkina Faso, one of the deadliest strikes against Mali’s military in recent Takfiri militant violence.

Since 2012, Mali has been in a persisting conflict after Takfiri terrorists hijacked an uprising by Tuareg people, a large Berber ethnic confederation living across the Sahara Desert, in the north. During the past seven years, the violence has moved to central Mali, from where Takfiri terrorists launch attacks across the Sahel region.

Outfits affiliated with al-Qaeda and Daesh Takfiri terrorist groups have used central and northern Mali as a launch pad for growing numbers of attacks across the Sahel region, especially on neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso, despite the presence of 4,500 French troops, who help the Malian army to push back terrorists.   

Malians have become increasingly frustrated with the failure of the authorities to end the frequent attacks by militant groups, as well as increasing tit-for-tat ethnic killings between farmers and herders, which have also surged this year.