Nov. 3 (UPI) — A terror attack in Mali killed at least 53 soldiers and one civilian, government officials said.
The attack at a military post in Indelimane in the northeast near the border with Niger caused “significant material damage” on Friday, government spokesman Yaya Sangare posted on Twitter. He said there were 10 survivors.
Reinforcements were brought in and the situation was under control, Sangare said.
No group has claimed responsibility though separatists and al-Qaida-linked insurgents often target military outposts in the west African nation, CNN reported.
In September, 38 soldiers died in separate attacks on army posts in central Mali near the border with Burkina Faso. G5 Sahel, an anti-insurgency group supported by France that includes Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania, blamed suspected members of Ansar ul Islam for the September attack, BBC reported.
Describing the latest incident as a terrorist attack, the government urged residents “to succeed in the war for freedom, peace and social cohesion in our country.”
Ethnic and jihadist violence killed hundreds of civilians last year.
In 2012, a jihadist insurgency moved into north and central Mali.
One year later, a French-led military campaign pushed them back.
But the government and foreign troops haven’t been able to fully regain control of some regions.
“The European Union stands by the government and the Malian nation to counter this serious violence,” it said in a statement. “We continue to engage in support of Mali to allow the country to re-establish the full authority of the state over all its territory, to assure its development and the prosperity of its citizens.”
