64 killed in Mali boat, base attacks claimed by jihadists

Attacks on an army base and a passenger boat on the Niger River in northern Mali on Thursday, claimed by jihadists, killed 64 people, Mali's government said.

The two separate attacks targeted the Timbuktu boat on the Niger river and an army position at Bamba, in the northern Gao region with "a provisional toll of 49 civilians and 15 soldiers killed", according to a government statement. It did not specify how many died in each assault.

The assaults were "claimed" by a group affiliated to Al-Qaeda.