Eight soldiers and 57 "terrorists" were killed in clashes at a rebel base in northern Mali where rival jihadist groups, including the so-called Islamic State, are active, the Malian army said on Saturday.

Friday's fighting followed an air raid and erupted just a day after France and its allies announced their military withdrawal from the African country.

The Malian army said it carried out the attack against the rebel base after its troops had been attacked by "unidentified armed men" in the Archam region in the conflict-plagued north, near the border with restive Burkina Faso and Niger.

Eight soldiers died and 57 armed rebels were "neutralised" in the ensuing "violent clashes," the army said.

Mali, a landlocked nation of 21 million people, has struggled to contain a brutal jihadist insurgency that emerged in 2012, before spreading to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and two million people have been displaced by the Sahel-wide conflict, of which Mali remains the epicentre.

About 40 civilians -- believed to be loyal to rival jihadist groups, according to local sources -- have been killed this week in the same area where the incident on Friday occurred.

It took place in the so-called "three borders" area, a hotspot of jihadist violence where the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) and the Sahel's largest jihadist alliance, the al-Qaeda-aligned GSIM group, are particularly active.

The Mali army said it had been looking for "terrorist sanctuaries" in the area.

The forces deployed to the "three borders" area include Mali's own army, as well as French and European troops and UN peacekeepers.

-- French pull-out --

Just a day before, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the withdrawal of French troops from Mali.

France first intervened in the country in 2013 and currently has around 4,600 troops stationed across the Sahel, 2,400 of them in Mali.

But relations between the two countries deteriorated sharply after Malian army officers led by Colonel Assimi Goita deposed elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020.

The army then deposed the civilian leaders of a transitional government last year, in a second coup.

Mali's international partners -- including France and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- insisted that the junta stick to a pledge to stage elections in February 2022 and restore civilian rule.

But the junta then floated plans to stay in power for up to five years.

On Friday, Mali's army-led government asked France to withdraw its forces from the Sahel state "without delay".

Mali has also asked the smaller European Takuba group of special forces, created in 2020, to depart quickly.

But Macron responded with a statement saying he would not compromise the safety of French soldiers and the withdrawal will take place "in orderly fashion".

Mali asks France to pull out troops 'without delay'
Bamako (AFP) Feb 18, 2022 - Mali's army-led government on Friday asked France to withdraw its forces from the Sahel state "without delay", calling into question Paris' plans to pull out over several months.

A Malian government spokesman added in a statement announced on public television that the results of France's nine-year military engagement in the conflict-torn country were "not satisfactory".

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he was withdrawing troops from Mali after a breakdown in relations with the nation's ruling military junta.

France first intervened in Mali in 2013 to combat a jihadist insurgency that emerged one year prior. It currently has around 4,600 troops stationed across the Sahel, 2,400 of them in Mali.

But relations between the two countries deteriorated sharply after Mali's army seized power in a coup in 2020, and later defied calls to restore civilian rule swiftly.

The French pull-out after nearly a decade is also set to see the smaller European Takuba group of special forces, created in 2020, leave Mali.

Macron said the withdrawal would take place over four to six months.

Spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga called the prolonged French withdrawal a "flagrant violation" of accords between the two countries.

"In view of these repeated breaches of defence agreements, the government invites the French authorities to withdraw, without delay," he said.

Mali has also asked the smaller Takuba force to depart quickly.

Macron responded with a statement saying he would not compromise the safety of French soldiers and the withdrawal will take place "in orderly fashion".

The planned withdrawal of France and its allies has raised questions about the possibility of a security vacuum in impoverished Mali, a vast and ethnically diverse nation of 21 million people.

- Dire relations -

Mali's call for a swift French military withdrawal caps months of escalating tensions with its former colonial master.

Relations first began to fray after Malian army officers led by Colonel Assimi Goita deposed elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020.

The army then deposed the civilian leaders of a transitional government last year, in a second coup.

Mali's international partners -- including France and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- insisted that the junta stick to a pledge to stage elections in February 2022 and restore civilian rule.

But the junta then floated plans to stay in power for up to five years.

The proposal prompted the 15-nation ECOWAS bloc to impose a trade embargo and shut its borders with Mali in January.

France followed by announcing a pull-out on Thursday. But Paris had already begun to scale back its deployment before relations nosedived.

It closed three bases in northern Mali this year, where the bulk of its anti-jihadist Barkhane force had been stationed.

Macron said the closure of three bases in Gao, Menaka and Gossi would take between four to six months.

- 40 civilians killed -

As well as concerns over civilian rule in Mali, Paris has protested the junta's alleged use of Russia's Wagner private security firm.

The US and others say that hundreds of fighters from the controversial paramilitary group are in the country, though the junta denies the claim. AFP has been unable to independently verify the information.

Mali remains the epicentre of the Sahel-wide jihadist conflict, which has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced some two million people.

The conflict spread deeper into Mali, despite the presence of French troops, which has fed popular resentment of France's military intervention.

France and its allies have vowed to remain engaged in fighting terror in the Sahel despite leaving Mali.

Rival jihadists groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group not only carry out regular attacks on national and foreign troops, but are also fighting each other for territory.

Earlier this week, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) killed around 40 civilians who it claimed were complicit with their al-Qaeda-aligned rivals GSIM, local sources told AFP on Friday.

A civilian official in the northern Tessit area said it was a common scenario.

"When a (jihadist) group passes through a village, the one that comes later accuses the residents of being accomplices," said the official, whose name was withheld for security reasons.

The residents, who are "unable to kill a fly", thus become caught up in the rivalry.

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Mali asks France to pull out troops 'without delay'
Bamako (AFP) Feb 18, 2022
Mali's army-led government on Friday asked France to withdraw its forces from the Sahel state "without delay", calling into question Paris' plans to pull out over several months. A Malian government spokesman added in a statement announced on public television that the results of France's nine-year military engagement in the conflict-torn country were "not satisfactory". On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he was withdrawing troops from Mali after a breakdown in relati ... read more