Eight people killed in Mali after bus hits land mine, says union official

Eight people were ​killed and 42 were injured ​in Mali after ‌a passenger ​bus carrying civilians hit a land mine west of the capital Bamako, ‌a transport union official said on Tuesday. * Africa Corps, a Russian paramilitary group operating in Mali, said ​in a social media post late on Monday that ⁠five people had been killed and more than 10 were injured ⁠in ​the incident.

Eight people were ​killed and 42 were injured ​in Mali after ‌a passenger ​bus carrying civilians hit a land mine west of the capital Bamako, ‌a transport union official said on Tuesday. * The explosion happened on Monday on a road where al Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) operates ‌and follows unprecedented assaults in April by JNIM in coordination ‌with a Tuareg-dominated rebel group.

* Eight people died and 42 were wounded after the bus hit the land mine on the road ⁠from ​Bamako to ⁠Kayes, Mamadou Kassambara, communications officer for the national drivers' union told Reuters on ⁠Tuesday. * Africa Corps, a Russian paramilitary group operating in Mali, said ​in a social media post late on Monday that ⁠five people had been killed and more than 10 were injured ⁠in ​the incident. It blamed JNIM.

* Nobody has claimed responsibility for laying the land mine. * JNIM announced a blockade on Bamako ⁠following the April attacks and has set up checkpoints on some ⁠major ⁠roads to the city.

* West Africa's Sahel region has become a global hotspot of terrorism.