At least 50 people have been killed in northern Mali in a car bomb attack on a mili-tary base, officials say.
A vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a camp housing soldiers and mem-bers of rival armed groups in the region’s main city, Gao.
Mali’s northern desert region has been restive since it was captured by militant Is-lamists in late 2012.
Despite French military intervention in 2013, the region remains tense with sporadic attacks and kidnappings.
A source at the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying it was a suicide attack.
The victims were involved in conducting patrols in this highly volatile area under a deal backed by the UN in a bid to stop the violence there.
It is not the first time the military in Mali has been targeted by a deadly attack.
In July last year, about 17 soldiers were killed and 30 others wounded in an attack on a military base in the central town of Nampala.
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has declared three days of national mourn-ing in a tweet following the latest attack.
The fight against extremist groups is one of the major challenges of Mr Keita’s gov-ernment.
But a new report by Human Rights Watch says the Malian government is not doing enough to protect civilians from the militants.
Wednesday’s attack shows that even soldiers aren’t safe, says the BBC World Ser-vice Africa editor James Copnall.
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