激進分子在馬裏襲擊非洲多國部隊總部

Militants armed with guns and explosives attacked the headquarters of an African military taskforce in central Mali, killing two soldiers and one civilian.

The attackers detonated a car packed with explosives destroying the entrance to the G5 Sahel headquarters Friday and then entered the compound firing guns.

G5 Sahel is a regional force created last year to root out jihadists in West Africa's Sahel region, and involves 5,000 troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

The chairman of the group, Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, confirmed the death toll. Officials in Mali say two attackers were also killed in the gun battle.

In a statement from the G5 Force, Issoufou condemned “this cowardly act by criminal organizations whose aim is to destabilize one of the essential instruments for the stability of our sub-region.”

SITE, which monitors militant activity around the world, said al-Qaida's branch in Mali had reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assault comes shortly before French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders from the G5 countries are set to meet at an African Union summit starting Sunday in Mauritania. France also has troops in Mali, intervening in 2013 to help government forces drive al-Qaida-linked jihadists out of the north.攜帶槍支和炸藥的激進分子在馬裏中部地區襲擊了一支非洲多國部隊的總部，打死兩名軍人和一名平民。

襲擊者星期五引爆了一輛裝滿炸藥汽車，摧毀了薩赫勒五國集團部隊總部的入口，然後衝進去開槍掃射。

薩赫勒五國集團部隊去年建立，目的是根除在非洲西部薩赫勒地區的聖戰分子，是一支由布基納法索、乍得、馬裏、毛里塔尼亞和尼日爾軍人組成的5000人部隊。

擔任薩赫勒五國集團主席的尼日爾總統伊素福證實了傷亡人數。馬裏官員說，兩名襲擊者也死於槍戰。

伊素福在五國部隊發表的聲明中譴責說，“這是犯罪團伙的懦夫行徑，他們的目標是破壞維持撒哈拉沙漠以南地區穩定的一箇中堅力量”。

跟蹤全世界軍事行動的賽德情報集團說，基地組織的馬裏分支宣稱它發動了這次襲擊。

法國總統馬克龍和薩赫勒五國領導人定於星期天在毛里求斯的非洲聯盟峯會上會談。法國在馬裏駐有軍隊。法國2013年的軍事幹預幫助馬裏政府軍把與基地組織有聯繫的聖戰者武裝趕出北部地區。