At least six people have been killed in an attack on an African military base in Mali.
The attack was carried out by Islamist militants who were armed with explosives and rockets.
Reuters reports that the militants launched a raid on the headquarters of the African military taskforce in central Mali on Friday.
Officials said members of the military force engaged in an exchange of gunfire with the Militants.
Mali’s defence ministry spokesman Boubacar Diallo is quoted by Reuters as saying that “The attackers fired rockets at the headquarters and some of them infiltrated the compound. There was an exchange of fire.”
Two soldiers and four assailants died in the attack.
G5 Military Force
Troops from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania made up the G5 military force operating in Mali.
The regional force was created last year to combat jihadists in West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel region.
Al Qaeda’s branch in Mali reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack and described it as a suicide bombing.
Insecurity in Mali
Parts of Mali is still in a state of insecurity ahead of presidential elections in July.
Recent ethnic clashes claimed over 16 lives in the central part of the country. The clashes were as a result of ongoing fighting between two groups over land, grazing grounds and water rights.
In an attempt to deal with the activities of jihadists, some soldiers were implicated in major killings after the discovery of some mass graves in the centre of the country.
The graves were found after a military crackdown on suspected jihadists and allied ethnic militia.
Source: Africafeeds.com
