Nine Malian soldiers killed in suspected jihadist attack

Nine soldiers were killed in the troubled central region of Mali on Wednesday morning when their camp was attacked by jihadists, security sources said.

Their position in Boni, located between Douentza and Hombori in the Mopti region, was attacked by “heavily armed individuals in armored vehicles,” a source said on condition of anonymity.

Several soldiers were injured, the source said, a report confirmed by another security official and a local government official.

An initial death toll left four dead and ten injured, two of them seriously.

The source said the camp was badly damaged and the attackers fled with a lot of equipment.

The attack is the latest in a brutal conflict that has raged in Mali since 2012, when jihadists overtook a rebellion of predominantly ethnic Tuareg separatists in the north.

The conflict, which killed thousands of soldiers and civilians, then spread to central Mali, an ethnic powder keg, and to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Jihadist attacks in central Mali typically involve roadside bombs or hit and run raids on motorcycles or vans, and the use of armored vehicles, if confirmed, is extremely rare.

Heni Nsaibia, a researcher with an NGO project called Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), said jihadists seized armored vehicles from the armed forces in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Malian army said on social media that it had received air support from the French anti-jihadist mission Barkhane in the Sahel.

A Malian military official said the attackers suffered “heavy casualties” but did not give details.

Central Mali has seen a series of deadly attacks since the start of the year, including a roadside bomb that killed four UN peacekeepers from Côte d’Ivoire.

French and Malian troops also led a joint mission in the region, called Operation Eclipse. According to a statement from the Malian army on January 26, “100 terrorists were neutralized” during the operation.