At least 25 people have been killed and 60 more missing following an attack by extremists on two military camps in Mali, the country’s government said.
According to AP, the extremists rode into the community of Boulikessi with heavy weaponry overnight Sunday to Monday to attack a Malian battalion of the regional G5 Sahel Force.
A statement by Mali’s government said that after exchanges of gunfire, the army had retaken Boulikessi, killing at least 15 extremists and destroying five of their vehicles.
The attack on the camp caused “heavy equipment losses and major damage,” Malian government spokesman Yaya Sangaré said.
Around the same time early Monday, armed men attacked another army camp in Mondoro.
Extremists have gained a larger foothold in Burkina Faso’s north in the past few years, staging more attacks near its borders with Mali and Niger. Hundreds have been killed.
G5 Sahel Force commander Gen. Oumarou Namatou Gazama blamed a group called Ansarul Islam for the attack at the Boulikessi camp, calling them a “terrorist group.”
