Al-Qaeda-linked group claims attack in Mali

A group linked to al-Qaeda says it carried out Friday’s attack on a military base outside the Malian capital Bamako.

Two car bombs were detonated in the attack which the authorities in Mali said had killed one soldier and seven assailants.

A branch of al-Qaeda’s local affiliate, Katiba Macina, said; ”the attack was justified because the Malian military was using mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group.”

It said ”one of the bombers was from neighbouring Burkina Faso.”

Correspondents say that the fact this happened just 9 miles (15 km) from Bamako is another worrying sign of the growing threat the Islamists pose in Mali and the wider Sahel region.

BBC/Mercy Chukwudiebere