BAMAKO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Malian Armed Forces (FAMas) have blamed Macina Katiba, a jihadist group, for an attack that left ten civilians dead on Thursday in central Mali, the Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the Armed Forces (Dirpa) said in a statement Friday.
According to Dirpa, the attack occurred at around 2:00 p.m. local time Thursday and targeted a civilian transport bus on the RN15 (National Road No. 15) near the village of Tile, in the Bandiagara region, central Mali.
The bus that left Mali's capital city Bamako for Koro hit a homemade mine planted by the said terrorists, the statement said, adding that the attack deliberately targeted innocent civilians.
The FAMas that came to rescue the victims counted ten dead bodies, including a woman and a five-year-old girl. They also counted 38 injured who were evacuated to the towns of Sevare and Bandiagara.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali in a statement Friday strongly condemned the attack while stressing its resolve to "continue working with the Malian authorities in support of their efforts to restore lasting security to which the Malian people deeply aspire."
Mali has been facing security, political and economic crises since 2012, with insurgencies, jihadist incursions, and inter-community violence having killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of others in the West African country. ■