Death toll in Mali attack rises to 30 soldiers -army

The death toll from an attack against an army patrol in northern Mali has risen to 30 from an earlier count of 24, army spokesman Diarran Kone told Reuters on Tuesday. The attack on Monday in the Gao region was the third large-scale strike against Malian forces in the last two months in parts of the country where jihadist groups are mounting increasingly sophisticated operations.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for Monday's attack. An attack on an army post in early November, which killed at least 53 soldiers, was claimed by an Islamic State affiliate, while coordinated raids in late September that killed 38 soldiers were claimed by al Qaeda's West Africa affiliate.