Battle for Mali base has killed dozens of militants, army says

The attackers came on motorcycles and on foot, some disguised in army uniforms to infiltrate the base, RFI reported the witnesses as saying.One said the militants entered the camp and held it "for a long time before leaving"."I noticed that the fighting took place between 200 and 300 metres from the camp. Several terrorists were killed by soldiers, but others fled; some even hid in houses and others went into the forest," the witness said.At least 10 soldiers were killed in the fighting and the assailants briefly took over the camp, the AFP news agency quoted security and local sources.The army told national broadcaster ORTM that the militants used drones, heavy machine guns and armoured vehicles to breach the site's perimeter.Since 2012, Mali has been plagued by insurgencies and large parts of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.April saw nationwide, co-ordinated attacks by an alliance of jihadists and separatist rebels in the north - the Azawad Liberation Front - seeking to overthrow the military regime of Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a coup in 2020.During the attacks, Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence near the capital, Bamako.