An attack at a military post in landlocked West African nation of Mali, killed 53 people. The attack was carried out at I-n-Delimane in eastern town of Maneka, near Mali's border with Burkina Faso. The attack took place on Friday, referred to as the deadliest against the country's military in recent memory, killed 53 army personnel and a civilian. Malian government spokesperson Yaya Sangare took to Twitter to inform about the ambush. Along with the casualty figures, he informed that there were "10 survivors and found significant material damage"
In a press statement, he further informed, "Heavily armed unidentified men attacked around noon. The attack started with shellfire, then they retreated towards Niger". Mali shares its eastern border with Niger.
Meanwhile, ISIS claimed the responsibility of the attack on its Amaq news agency. Mali has seen a violent past since 2012 when ISIS took over northern Mali and carried out a series of attack. Malian army with French support recaptured the regions which were under ISIS's control.
In a separate incident, a French army personnel Brigadier Ronan Pointeau, lost his life on the same day, in that region, when his vehicle hit a roadside explosive device. French President Emmanuel Macron took to Twitter to inform about the incident.
On September 30, a similar incident took place where a coordinated attack on two Malian army bases killed 38 soldiers which happened in central Mali. The country along with Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania are a part of an anti-insurgency group called G5-Sahel, supported by France. The group blamed Ansar-ul-Islam (Arabic for Defenders of Islam) for the September 30 attack. The Islamic militant group was founded in 2016 and is active in Mali and Burkina Faso.
