BAMAKO, Mali – A local official says gunmen identifying as Islamic extremists have attacked and occupied a village in southern Mali near the border with Ivory Coast.
Mamadou Tangara, the mayor of Sikasso, said the gunmen arrived in Fakola village on motorcycles early Sunday morning.
A military police official, who spoke on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the attackers burned several administrative buildings as well as a building that had been used by security forces.
The official said security forces from a nearby village had been dispatched to try to drive the attackers out.
On Saturday, suspected Islamic extremists killed three soldiers in an attack near the border with Mauritania.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Sunday called a meeting of defense officials in the capital.
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