BAMAKO: Fourteen soldiers were killed and 18 wounded on Saturday in an attack on their camp in Mali’s restive north, the army said, while military sources said militants were responsible.

Mali’s deteriorating security situation is of growing concern as Al Qaeda-linked groups mount increasingly deadly attacks on domestic and foreign forces, and the country’s president on Saturday cancelled his visit to an African summit.

“The Malian armed forces were attacked early this morning, around 4am, in Soumpi (Timbuktu region). We have recorded 14 dead, 18 wounded and material damage,” a statement from the military posted on social media said.

The army retook the camp by the afternoon, a Malian military source said.

A military source based in Bamako had said the soldiers were killed “during a cowardly terrorist attack on the Soumpi camp”.

The Soumpi incident comes two days after 26 civilians including mothers and babies were killed when their vehicle ran over a landmine in Boni, central Mali, according to a UN death toll.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2018