11 extremists, 1 soldier killed in ambush in central Mali

Bamako: Mali’s defence minister says one soldier and 11 extremists are dead after an ambush of security forces in a region where al-Qaida-linked fighters roam.

Yesterday’s ambush in the Macina area of central Mali comes a week before the West African nation votes in a presidential election. The growing brazenness of attacks by multiple extremist groups has put the vote at risk.

More than eight million voters are expected to go to the polls as President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta seeks a second five-year term. Defence Minister Tièna Coulibaly says one soldier was wounded in this latest attack.

Central Mali has seen more attacks as extremist groups push farther from their usual areas in the vast north. One deadly attack recently targeted the headquarters of a new West African counter-terror force.