AN attack on a military patrol in northern Mali on Sunday killed four civilians and wounded 31 others, including four French soldiers, Mali’s government and the French army said.

The ambush, which involved a car bomb explosion followed by gunfire, took place two days after Islamist militants killed at least six people during a raid on a military headquarters in central Mali, a country where French troops are helping combat jihadists across its vast desert reaches.

The deteriorating security situation a month ahead of a presidential election points to the difficulty international partners face restoring peace in Mali, which has become a launchpad for attacks by groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State across West Africa.

A spokesman for Mali’s Defense Ministry, Boubacar Diallo, said a car drove into a joint Barkhane-Malian army patrol. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

(SD-Agencies)