Mali: 27 Soldiers Killed, 33 Injured in Militant Attack

At least 27 soldiers were killed and 33 more injured in a militant attack on an army base in central Mali, the government announced on Saturday.

The government revealed that seven soldiers are still missing following the complex attack in the rural commune of Mondoro, which involved car bombs.

In response, seventy "terrorists" were killed, the statement said, without specifying which militant group was responsible.

Mali has been facing an Islamist insurgency since al Qaeda-linked militants seized its desert north in 2012, forcing former colonial power France to intervene to drive them back the following year.

On January 27, Denmark announced the start of pulling its troops out of Mali after the African country’s transitional junta government insisted on an immediate withdrawal.

“We can see that the Malian transitional government, or the coup generals, last night sent out a public statement where they again reiterated that Denmark is not welcome in Mali, and we of course will not put up with that, so therefore we have decided to withdraw our soldiers home,” Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told journalist at a press briefing in Copenhagen.