Army says eight soldiers have been killed and seven others were injured when their patrol was ambushed by a suspected armed group in western Mali.
The Army in a statement said the attack occurred near the town of Nara, about 30 kilometers south of the border with Mauritania.
It added that a unit in the Nara area was the target of a complex attack combining improvised explosive devices, IEDs and heavy weapons.
The statement said the army had earlier given a provisional death toll of four.
However, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the ambush.
Reports say Mali is the epicentre of an armed uprising that began in the north of the country in 2012 and spread three years later to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso. Thousands of people across the region have died and about two million have been displaced by the conflict.
