4 killed as convoy ambushed in central Mali, army says

BAMAKO, Mali – A Mali army spokesman says four soldiers have been killed and nine wounded when armed men attacked a convoy in the central Segou region.

Col. Abdoulaye Sidibe said an army vehicle hit a land mine Thursday, and assailants then shot at the convoy travelling between Diabaly and Nampala. He said three of nine wounded soldiers are in serious condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though it is similar to others by the Macina Liberation Front, which has attacked security forces in Mali’s Segou and Mopti regions. It has ties to the al-Qaida-linked Ansar Dine extremist group.

Islamic extremists took control of northern Mali in 2012. Though a French-led intervention drove them from strongholds in 2013, attacks by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and allied groups are common.