Bamako - At least 40 members of an elite unit of the Mali Army were killed in three successive ambushes by alleged 'jihadist' groups on Thursday in the center of the country, Efe news agency has said.
Efe quoted the local security forces sources as saying that the soldiers who survived the attack, including the unit commander, were part of a group dedicated to border security and were repeatedly ambushed in the town of Nokara.
In one of the ambushes, an explosive device inside an abandoned van was detonated when a group of military vehicles passed by.
To the Spanish news agency, one of the survivors said the attack was very complex and attributed the death toll to the delay in the arrival of reinforcements after the first ambush.
After the first ambush, the soldiers were confronted with two others, having been shot at by armed men.
