Two soldiers killed, nine injured in Mali ambush: Army

Two soldiers have been killed and nine injured in an ambush in northern Mali, the Malian army said.

Forces had “reacted to a complex ambush” on the road between Gossi town and the city of Gao on Thursday, the army said in a statement released in the night to Friday.

Seven “terrorists” were “neutralized,” it said, adding they were among more than 40 jihadists killed in different operations last month.

In one, it said a strike against a “terrorist base” west of Serma in central Mali had “neutralized 31 terrorists” on May 27, including several who were sought after by Malian security forces.

Mali has since 2012 been wracked by an extremist insurgency by groups linked to al-Qaeda and the so-called ISIS terrorist group.

Vast swathes of the country are in thrall to myriad rebel groups and militias.

The ruling junta has turned away from its traditional ally France and toward Russia in its efforts to stem the violence that began in the north of the country and spread to the center, and then to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.