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At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger bus struck an improvised explosive device in central Mali, authorities said on Friday, accusing Islamic extremists of ties to al-Qaeda.
The Malian military said in a statement that the explosion occurred Thursday afternoon in the village of Tile in the Bandiagara region. Among the victims was a 5-year-old girl. About 38 other passengers were taken to area hospitals for treatment.
“The bus bound for Coro hit an improvised explosive device, which was placed by terrorists and deliberately aimed at innocent civilian targets,” Colonel Suleiman Dembele, a military spokesman, said in a statement.
Dembele added that the force of the explosion destroyed the bus and sent it 30 meters off the road.
The attack was unclaimed but bears the hallmarks of al-Qaeda-linked extremist groups known for placing landmines on roads to target Malian military vehicles and UN peacekeepers.
The Malian military has blamed the explosion exclusively on the Katiba Masina, also known as the Front for the Liberation of Masina, which is active in central Mali. The militants are allied with the al-Qaeda-linked extremist group JNIM.
In December 2021, gunmen calling themselves jihadists attacked a public transport bus, killing at least 30 people, most of them burned inside the vehicle.
Bandiagara was once a tourist hub for western travelers trekking through the Dogon country of Mali. However, Islamic extremists, once controlled in the north of the country, have infiltrated central Mali, making the region unsafe for tourism.
In 2012, extremists occupied the main center of northern Mali, but French troops drove the rebels out of the town in 2013. But the jihadists continued to operate in the vast desert region of northern Mali, attacking government targets.
Security concerns have deepened across the country since the withdrawal of French troops from Mali. France has decided to move its troops to neighboring Niger, which seized power in an August 2020 coup, after relations with Malian junta leader Colonel Asimi Goita deteriorated sharply.
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