The United States has ordered non-essential staff and their families to leave Mali because of a heightened risk of terror attacks.

In the updated travel advisory, the US State Department urged Americans to be vigilant, especially in areas frequently visited by Westerners.

The warning comes a week after an attack on an army base near the capital, Bamako.

For more than a decade, insurgents have been carrying out frequent attacks in Mali – but it is extremely rare for the jihadists to hit targets so close to the capital.