Around 50 Mali soldiers killed in ambush claimed by Tuareg and jihadist fighters

Mali's military suffered one of its deadliest single losses in years after at least 50 soldiers were killed in an ambush near the northern town of Anefis, security sources said, in an attack jointly claimed by Tuareg separatist fighters and a group linked to al-Qaeda.

The assault is the latest in a string of setbacks for Mali's military-led government, which has increasingly relied on the Russia-linked Africa Corps to support its counterinsurgency campaign in the country's north. Militants have also struck Malian and allied Russian forces elsewhere in recent weeks, downing a military helicopter and briefly seizing territory before withdrawing.

Analysts tracking the conflict say the frequency and scale of recent attacks point to a resurgence of coordinated militant activity in northern Mali, posing a growing challenge to the authorities in Bamako as they seek to project control over the region.