11 soliders killed in Malian terrorist attack.

News agency of Nigeria is reporting that a Malian Defence Ministry said on Monday that militants attacked an army post near the border of Burkina Faso on Sunday, killing 11 soldiers.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, but Islamist groups including al Qaeda affiliates have been resurgent in recent months in Mali, attacking army positions beyond their usual strongholds in the north.

Defence spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Sidibé said: ”the post was attacked between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. in Boulkessi, and there were 11 killed and five wounded”.

He said a deployment of troops had been sent to the town as reinforcements, but did not say if the attackers had been caught by Sunday night.

Islamist groups such as Ansar Dine have stepped up their insurgency in Mali over the past year.