Car bomb kills 2 civilians, wounds French soldiers in Mali

An attack on a military patrol in northern Mali killed two civilians and wounded up to eight French soldiers on Sunday, Mali's defense ministry said.

The attack comes two days after extremist militants killed at least six people during a raid on a military headquarters in central Mali, a country where French troops are helping combat militants across its vast desert reaches.

"I confirm that it was a car bomb that drove into a joint Barkhane/Malian army patrol," defense ministry spokesman Boubacar Diallo said. Barkhane is the name of the near 4,000-strong French force stationed in its former colonies across the Sahel region.

About a dozen people were wounded in Sunday's attack, including four to eight French Barkhane troops, Diallo said.

France's army spokesman, Patrik Steiger, confirmed that civilians had been killed in an attack in Gao and the army was assessing the state of the 30-strong French patrol that came under attack.

He said the explosion happened near three French vehicles.

Photos posted on social media showed an armored vehicle on a sandy road surrounded by black smoke.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred a month before presidential elections scheduled for the end of July.

SS