A security official who declined to be named said that, in an assault lasting several hours, the attackers overwhelmed the soldiers’ position before reinforcements took it back. The security official, however, said seven soldiers had been killed. Despite some 4,500 French troops in the Sahel region, plus a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali, the conflict has engulfed the centre of the country and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. On Tuesday, two soldiers were killed in the Mopti region when their convoy hit a roadside bomb. On January 13, French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Sahel states agreed to focus their military efforts on the border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Source: The Guardian January 23, 2020 14:26 UTC