激进分子在马里袭击非洲多国部队总部

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.

袭击者星期五引爆了一辆装满炸药汽车，摧毁了萨赫勒五国集团部队总部的入口，然后冲进去开枪扫射。

萨赫勒五国集团部队去年建立，目的是根除在非洲西部萨赫勒地区的圣战分子，是一支由布基纳法索、乍得、马里、毛里塔尼亚和尼日尔军人组成的5000人部队。

担任萨赫勒五国集团主席的尼日尔总统伊素福证实了伤亡人数。马里官员说，两名袭击者也死于枪战。

伊素福在五国部队发表的声明中谴责说，“这是犯罪团伙的懦夫行径，他们的目标是破坏维持撒哈拉沙漠以南地区稳定的一个中坚力量”。

跟踪全世界军事行动的赛德情报集团说，基地组织的马里分支宣称它发动了这次袭击。

法国总统马克龙和萨赫勒五国领导人定于星期天在毛里求斯的非洲联盟峰会上会谈。法国在马里驻有军队。法国2013年的军事干预帮助马里政府军把与基地组织有联系的圣战者武装赶出北部地区。