20 troops killed in Mali attack, militants suspected

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - At least 20 Malian soldiers were killed during a pre-dawn assault on Sunday when armed men, suspected to be militants, attacked an army base in Sokolo, near the border with Mauritania, the army said in a statement.

‘‘The provisional assessment of this cowardly attack is about twenty dead and several wounded,” it said, adding that the the assault caused significant material damage.

The military further said it sent reinforcement to the scene and was in process of dispatching helicopters to track down the suspected militants.

‘‘The government of Mali strongly condemns this attack,’’ the statement said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but Mali, like its neighbors in the Sahel region, is home to many terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Daesh/ISIS.

On Christmas day, President of Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kabore declared 48 hours of national mourning after militants killed at least 35 civilians and seven soldiers in one of the deadliest attacks in the West African country.