Unidentified gunmen on Saturday killed at least 14 soldiers in central Mali, an area targeted by a growing wave of attacks by Islamist militants, when they overran a military camp early on Saturday, two army officers said.

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West Africa’s arid Sahel region is suffering a spike in violence by militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, that is drawing an increasingly aggressive response from countries including France and the United States.

The military camp in the town of Soumpi, near the southern boundary of Mali’s Timbuktu region, came under attack at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT).

“The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing,” one of the sources said.

The second source said “around 15” soldiers had been killed.

“The soldiers abandoned their position. The enemy carried away material,” he said.

Both sources asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Islamist fighters seized control of Mali’s northern desert regions in 2012 before being driven back by a French-led intervention a year later.

But despite the presence of a U.N. peacekeeping mission and troops operating under a regional French anti-militant mission, violence is again on the rise and attacks are spreading further south towards the capital, Bamako.

>> Video: FRANCE 24 follows special forces fighting Sahel militants

A landmine explosion blew up a civilian passenger vehicle near the central Mali village of Boni on Thursday, killing 26 people and wounding several others.

In a separate incident on the same day in the nearby town of Youwarou, the Malian military said its forces repelled an attack by suspected Islamist fighters.

Mali and its western neighbour Senegal plan to deploy 1,000 troops soon in an operation to pacify central Mali and contain jihadists who had previously been confined to its Saharan expanses in the north.

But analysts doubt they will be able to do so purely through military means. The Islamists exploit the grievances of Fulani cattle herders and their disputes with local farmers over access to grazing lands.

The government’s periodic crackdowns on suspected jihadists have therefore tended to target the Fulani, driving some of them into the arms of the armed groups.

(REUTERS)</s>Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Saturday said his people would not be frightened by “barbaric attacks” after unidentified gunmen killed at least 14 soldiers in a pre-dawn assault on a military camp.

West Africa’s arid Sahel region is suffering a spike in violence by militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, that is drawing an increasingly aggressive response from countries including France and the United States.

A group of around 30 heavily armed fighters attacked the military camp in Soumpi, located in the centre of the country near the southern boundary of Mali’s Timbuktu region, according to an army statement read on state radio.

It said 14 soldiers were killed and 15 others were wounded, adding that 17 of the attackers had been killed in the battle.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

“The soldiers abandoned their position. The enemy carried away material,” said one army officer, who said the camp had been overrun and asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Islamist fighters seized control of Mali’s northern desert regions in 2012 before being driven back by a French-led intervention a year later.

But despite the presence of a U.N. peacekeeping mission and troops operating under a regional French anti-militant mission, violence is again on the rise and attacks are spreading further south towards the capital, Bamako.

“These barbaric attacks will not scare us. On the contrary, they reinforce our determination to fight against the terrorists,” President Keita said, speaking in the central Mali village of Boni where 26 people were killed on Thursday.

Those victims were travelling from neighbouring Burkina Faso in a civilian passenger vehicle when it struck a landmine.

In a separate incident on the same day in the nearby town of Youwarou, the Malian military said its forces repelled an attack by suspected Islamist fighters.

Mali and its western neighbour Senegal plan to deploy 1,000 troops soon in an operation to pacify central Mali and contain jihadists who had previously been confined to its Saharan expanses in the north.

But analysts doubt they will be able to do so purely through military means. The Islamists exploit the grievances of Fulani cattle herders and their disputes with local farmers over access to grazing lands.

The government’s periodic crackdowns on suspected jihadists have therefore tended to target the Fulani, driving some of them right into the arms of the armed groups.</s>BAMAKO: Unidentified gunmen killed at least 14 soldiers in central Mali, an area targeted by a growing wave of attacks by Islamist militants, when they overran a military camp early on Saturday, two army officers said.The camp in the town of Soumpi, near the southern boundary of Mali's Timbuktu region, came under attack at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT)."The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing," one of the sources said.The second source said "around 15" soldiers had been killed."The soldiers abandonned their position. The enemy carried away material," he said.Both sources asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.Violence by militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State , is on the rise in West Africa 's arid Sahel region. In Mali, attacks have grown more frequent and spread further south towards the capital, Bamako.</s>At least 14 soldiers have been killed and 17 others sustained injuries in the central Malian city of Timbuktu after unknown gunmen attacked their camp, according to military sources.

Unidentified armed men attacked the camp in the town of Soumpi at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Saturday.

"The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing," said one of the military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another military source confirmed the attack, putting the death toll at “around 15.”

"The soldiers abandoned their position. The enemy carried away material," the unnamed source said.

The attack came two days after 26 civilians were killed and several others injured when their vehicle was blown up by a mine in central Mali.

According to Malian army spokesman Colonel Diarran Kone, the vehicle had crossed the volatile border with neighboring Burkina Faso, where militants loyal to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group are known to operate, when it ran over the mine.

In a separate incident, the Malian military said its forces had come under attack in the town of Youwarou near Mopti, once a popular tourist spot, but that they had repelled it.

"They neutralized seven terrorists and recovered equipment abandoned by the assailants," it said.

In the past three years, Takfiri forces, which had long been destabilizing the thinly populated desert north of Mali, have swept south into its wetter, more populated central regions, exploiting local conflicts to spread militancy.

Mali plunged into turmoil after President Amadou Toumani Toure was overthrown in a military coup on March 22, 2012.

The coup leaders said they staged the putsch in response to the government’s inability to contain the rebellion in the country’s north.

In January 2013, French soldiers were deployed to Mali under the pretext of putting an end to the crisis in the West African country, a former colony of France.

Unrest rages on across Mali despite the presence there of an 11,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, which has been stationed in the country since July 2013, as well as 1,000 French forces.</s>ABIDJAN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen overran a military camp near Timbuktu in northern Mali early on Saturday, killing at least 14 soldiers, two army officers said.

“Around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT), unidentified armed men attacked the post in Soumpi. The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing,” one of the sources said. (Reporting by Adama Diarra; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Mark Potter)</s>West Africa’s arid Sahel region is suffering a spike in violence by militant groups, some with links to ‘al Qaeda’ and ‘Daesh’, that is drawing an increasingly aggressive response from countries including France and the United States.

The military camp in the town of Soumpi, near the southern boundary of Mali’s Timbuktu region, came under attack at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT).

“The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing,” one of the sources said.

The second source said “around 15” soldiers had been killed.

“The soldiers abandoned their position. The enemy carried away material,” he said.

Both sources asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A landmine explosion blew up a civilian passenger vehicle near the central Mali village of Boni on Thursday, killing 26 people and wounding several others.</s>Unidentified gunmen attacked a military camp in northern Mali early Saturday, killing 14 Malian soldiers and injuring 17, according to local authorities. Army officers cited by Reuters said the post in Soumpi, near Timbuktu, was attacked around 6am local time, and two of the attackers were killed.</s>BAMAKO (Reuters) - Gunmen killed at least three Malian soldiers in an attack on a military post in the northeast on Sunday, security sources and a local official said, capping a week of violence that has stoked concerns about worsening security in the arid region.

The unknown assailants came before dawn and surrounded the post in the town of Menaka in Mali's remote desert near the border with Niger, killing three soldiers, a security source said. A local official said five were killed after a gunfire exchange that lasted 40 minutes.

An official Malian spokesman was not available to comment.

The scrubland of West Africa's Sahel region has been the scene of growing militant violence over the past year, some perpetrated by groups with links to Islamic State and al Qaeda who roam the vast desert stretches and cross international borders often without detection.

The deteriorating situation has drawn a growing international military response including from France and the United States aimed at restoring security in Mali and the wider Sahel that includes Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Chad.

French forces pushed back a northern Islamist insurgency in Mali in 2013, but since then attacks have spread further south towards the capital, Bamako, despite the presence of a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

On Saturday, a group of around 30 heavily armed fighters attacked a military camp in Soumpi, located in the center of the country near the southern boundary of Mali's Timbuktu region.

On Thursday, a landmine blew up a civilian passenger vehicle, again in the country's center, killing 26. The vehicle was passing through an area where militants loyal to Islamic State are known to operate.

Mali and its western neighbor Senegal plan to deploy 1,000 troops soon in an operation to pacify central Mali, but regional experts have raised concerns that military intervention will not solve a crisis in an impoverished rural region whose troubles have complex, local roots.</s>BAMAKO, Mali – Authorities in northern Mali say at least 14 people are dead after suspected jihadists attacked an army camp.

The attack Saturday morning occurred in the Timbuktu region near the village of Soumpi.

An official from a nearby community who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from jihadists confirms that 14 people were dead and 22 others wounded.

Malian army spokesman Col. Diarran Kone confirms the attack by armed men but says the military does not yet have a casualty toll.

Northern Mali was controlled by a number of jihadist groups until a French-led military operation five years ago. The extremists merely dispersed and have continued to regularly attack Malian military installations as well as U.N. peacekeepers.</s>BAMAKO, Mali — Islamic militants stormed an army camp in northern Mali early Saturday, killing at least 14 soldiers in the worst attack on security forces in the West African country in more than a year, the army said.

Army spokesman Col. Diarran Kone confirmed the attack in the Timbuktu region and said the bodies of 17 assailants remained at the scene. The base was again under the control of the Malian military, he said.

Mali recently marked the five-year anniversary of a French military mission to oust Islamic extremists from power in the major towns of the north. That operation, however, merely dispersed the jihadists into the surrounding desert.

In the years since they have launched frequent attacks on the Malian military as well as U.N. peacekeeping forces trying to stabilize the country.

Last January, at least 54 people died in the eastern city of Gao in the bombing of a camp that housed hundreds of former fighters from armed groups. The former fighters, who were signatories to Mali’s 2015 peace agreement, had agreed to join forces with the military in battling extremist groups in Mali’s north.
Gunmen kill at least 14 soldiers at a military base in Soumpi, central Mali.