More than 50 people were killed near the northeastern Mali city of Gao on Friday after armed assailants ambushed a convoy escorted by a battalion of the Malian army and Russia's Wagner Group, a local official and residents said .
The attack took place near the village of Kobi, about 30 kilometres from Gao, in an area where Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants have been active for more than a decade, destabilising Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger.
According to local sources, the convoy was suddenly attacked by gunmen; an exchange of fire took place between the two sides, and 5 trucks belonging to the Malian army were destroyed.
"People jumped out of vehicles to escape. A large number of civilians were killed and injured," said the local official, who declined to be named for security reasons.
The official said up to 56 bodies had been counted at Gao hospital, adding that there were also an unknown number of military casualties.
A Gao resident said about 50 people were killed and vehicles set on fire, adding that deadly attacks have become so frequent that the army is organising almost daily patrols.
French and local media reported that the dead were on their way to gold prospecting sites and were being protected by army forces and elements of the Russian Wagner Group.
No party has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, and the government in Bamako has not issued a comment on the matter.
Waves of rebellion erupted in northern Mali following a Tuareg separatist rebellion in 2012. Islamist militants have since spread to other countries in the impoverished central Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the attacks have killed thousands and contributed to a humanitarian crisis with more than 3.2 million people displaced as of January.