Five people, a police officer and four civilians, were killed on Sunday in an attack carried out by suspected jihadists against a checkpoint in southern Mali, in the middle of traffic between Mali and Côte d'Ivoire, an area usually more spared from such acts as other parts of the country.
The post located near the town of Bougouni, a hundred kilometers from the Ivorian and Guinean borders, was attacked between 3.30am and 4am by unidentified armed men.
A local elected official insisting on remaining anonymous confirmed the attack, specifying that it targeted a mixed police and forestry service post.
The attack came the day West African heads of state meet in Ghana to discuss recent political developments in Mali, which has just been the scene of a second military coup in nine months.