At least 50 Malian soldiers were killed and dozens more captured after an army convoy was ambushed by armed groups as it withdrew from the strategic northern town of Anefis, local officials confirmed on Sunday.

The attack took place on Saturday as government forces were leaving Anefis following weeks of intense clashes over control of the town. The convoy was reportedly targeted in a coordinated ambush by fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA), both of which claimed responsibility for the assault.

A local elected official with close ties to Mali's ruling military government described the attack as one of the deadliest suffered by the country's armed forces in recent years.

"The provisional toll is extremely heavy – more than 50 soldiers killed and at least 24 taken prisoner," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A military source confirmed the heavy losses, alleging that some soldiers were executed after being captured during the attack.

"Some of our men were simply executed," the source said, adding that an internal investigation had been launched to determine what tactical shortcomings left the convoy vulnerable.

"We are trying to understand what made our forces so exposed," the source added.

The ambush comes amid escalating violence in northern Mali, where government forces have been battling both Tuareg separatist groups and jihadist organizations seeking to expand their influence.

Earlier this month, fighters from the Front for the Liberation of Azawad briefly seized Anefis and surrounded a military base jointly used by the Malian army and Russian paramilitary personnel from the Africa Corps, Moscow's state-backed military presence in the Sahel.

Sources said the Russian forces had already reached Gao, their intended destination, before the ambush occurred and were not involved in the attack.

"No Russians were killed. The casualties were members of the Malian army and allied state-backed militias," a community leader from the Gao region told AFP.

The Malian Armed Forces acknowledged on Saturday that one of their convoys had "fallen into an ambush laid by terrorist armed groups," but did not release official casualty figures.

The latest attack highlights the deteriorating security situation in Mali despite repeated military offensives by the ruling junta, which seized power in consecutive coups in 2020 and 2021, promising to restore stability.

Since expelling French troops and deepening military cooperation with Russia, Mali has continued to face persistent attacks by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, as well as renewed separatist offensives in the country's north. Analysts say the latest ambush underscores the continuing challenges confronting the military government as it struggles to reassert state control over large parts of the country. (ILKHA)