Militants attack convoy, kill 24 soldiers in Mali ambush

An attack on a military convoy in central Mali by armed militants witnessed the killing of no fewer than 24 soldiers and the injuring of eight others who are now receiving treatment in a hospital.

Army officials on Monday said about 12 vehicles had been in the convoy and four of them were destroyed in the ambush.

No group has admitted carrying out the raid but Islamist militants are active in the area.

The army said eight survivors had been found following about 60 miles (100km) from the border with Mauritania.

The latest attack came a week after tragedy struck in the volatile Mopti region in central Mali when armed assailants invaded the area, killing no fewer than 26 people and burned a village, thus displacing many after the attack.

The attack was confirmed by Aly Barry, an official from Tabital Pulaaku, a Fulani association, who also noted that the village was torched and its chief killed.

Two women and a nine-year-old girl were among those killed, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.