An al-Qaeda affiliate in Mali says it carried out a suicide attack on the military headquarters of the five-nation counterterror force which killed three people in the central part of this West African country.
According to the SITE intelligence group which monitors extremist statements, the Mali-based branch of al-Qaeda known by its acronym JNIM has issued a statement taking responsibility for the attack on the multinational military base in Sevare on Friday.
The attack, which highlights the brazen extremist threat in West Africa's Sahel region, started on Friday with the detonation of a car packed with explosives at the entrance to the military base and was followed by a gun battle that killed two soldiers and a civilian. Two attackers were also killed and two others were taken into custody.
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