24 Malian soldiers killed in ambush near Mauritania border

BAMAKO, Mali – Armed men killed at least 24 Malian soldiers in an ambush on an army patrol in the Segou region near Mali’s border with Mauritania, the army said Monday.

Mali’s Armed Forces said eight soldiers survived Sunday’s assault in Bouka Were, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Mauritanian border. The army said four vehicles were destroyed.

Mali’s security has deteriorated in the past few years.

Al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliated extremists are present and stage regular attacks. Since 2015, extremists have been moving from the arid north into the country’s more populated centre, stoking animosity and deadly violence between ethnic groups in the region.