BAMAKO: French soldiers operating in troubled northern Mali were targeted by “terrorists” in an ambush on Sunday, the third attack in the country in just days.
The ambush underscores the fragile security situation in the West African nation as it prepares to go to the polls on July 29. A spokesman for the French military said there were no deaths among the French troops but it was not known if there were other casualties in the attack, which took place in the restive Gao region. “French soldiers of the Barkhane military operation were ambushed by terrorists” near the town of Bourem, a Western military source told the Media, referring to the French mission in the country.
A Malian military source confirmed the incident, which came two days after a deadly attack on the Mali headquarters of a five-nation regional force known as G5 Sahel. Fatouma Wangara, a resident of Gao, said the French convoy was clearly targeted by a suicide car bomb. “An armored vehicle blocked the way and the car blew up,” she said. Another resident told AFP that the area around the ambush had been sealed off by French soldiers.
