Soldiers and Wagner mercenaries were escorting a group of mainly foreign civilians to the mine in northern Mali when they were ambushed on Friday by armed assailants, according to local officials.
The attackers struck when the convoy of several dozen vehicles was making its way through the village of Kobe in a region where Al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates are known to operate and several attacks have taken place in recent months.
"During the fighting, the terrorists deliberately targeted civilian passengers," the Malian army general staff said, adding that it would "pursue the terrorists responsible".
A local politician who spoke on condition of anonymity put the death toll at "32 civilians and soldiers".
According to the Malian Armed Forces' statement, 25 civilians were killed, and 13 others, "mostly young, foreign gold miners" were wounded.
It said the bodies of 19 attackers were also recovered from the site.
Another local official said the civilian victims were mainly foreigners travelling to a mine in Intahaka, the main gold mining region in northern Mali.
The country is one of Africa's top gold producers, though production has plunged due to instability.
Mali has seen a resurgence of violence since 2012, with a series of military coups as it struggles to stamp out insurgencies that have taken root in the north linked to Al-Qaeda, IS and local criminal gangs.
The unrest has since proliferated across the central Sahel region, with juntas also taking charge of neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Military leaders across the Sahel have pledged to claw back sovereignty over their countries' natural resources, which they say have been unfairly sold off to foreign operators.
Gold mining provides a quarter of Mali's national budget.
Suspected jihadist attack kills 32 in Mali
Dakar (AFP) Feb 8, 2025 -
A suspected jihadist attack on a convoy escorted by Malian soldiers and Russia's Wagner mercenaries has killed 32 people in northern Mali, officials said on Saturday.
The attack took place on Friday between the northern cities of Gao and Ansongo, they said.
The death toll was initially put at 10 but soon rose to 32.
"We have more than 30 bodies from the scene," said a hospital source in Gao.
"The jihadists ambushed a civilian convoy escorted by Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries," a local official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
"There are civilians and soldiers among the dead."
A medical source said many of the dead and wounded had been transferred to Gao, the main city in northern Mali.
A source from a transport trade union said: "According to a transporter who managed to escape, jihadists ambushed the convoy's escort and opened fire on everyone at random to cause the largest number of victims."
Another local official told AFP: "The Malian soldiers and Wagner (mercenaries) were in around 10 vehicles protecting a convoy of 22 minibuses with civilian passengers, six large buses and eight lorries."
"At least five lorries were destroyed by Islamic State (IS) jihadists."
IS has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Malian army has not officially commented on the reported attack.
"We control the situation on the ground between Ansongo and Gao," a military source said.
The route between Ansongo and Gao has seen several attacks in recent months blamed on jihadists or bandits.
- Gold mine -
Another local official said the civilian victims were mainly foreigners travelling to a gold mine in Intahaka, the main gold mining region in northern Mali.
The country is one of Africa's top gold producers, though production has plunged recently.
Mali has faced serious security problems since 2012 linked to violence both by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and IS and by local criminal gangs.
In January the Malian army said it had arrested a top IS leader and killed several "jihadist" fighters in an operation in the Gao region.
It named the suspect as Abou Hach, a "wanted terrorist long known to the intelligence services".
The impoverished west African country has been plunged into instability by a series of coups since 2012 and has struggled to deal with the security crisis in the north.
Its military rulers have broken ties with former colonial ruler France and turned politically and militarily towards Russia.
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