At least 10 Malian soldiers were killed on Sunday in an attack on a military camp in the central town of San, according to security and local sources.
The attack was claimed by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the al-Qaeda-linked militant coalition that has intensified operations across Mali in recent months.
A security source told AFP that the attackers temporarily seized control of the camp during the assault. The source said an initial assessment indicated that around 10 soldiers had been killed.
Mali has faced a worsening security crisis as government forces battle Islamist militants and separatist groups across large parts of the country.
The violence escalated further in April, when coordinated attacks by JNIM and the Tuareg-dominated Azawad Liberation Front inflicted losses on government forces in several areas. A suicide bombing during the same period also killed Mali’s defence minister.
Malian forces have been fighting militant groups for more than a decade. The country initially relied heavily on French military support, but relations with Paris deteriorated following successive military coups.
French troops were subsequently expelled, while Mali’s military-led government strengthened security cooperation with Russia and increasingly relied on Russian personnel and military assistance in its campaign against armed groups.