Security and health officials say sixteen soldiers have been killed and 10 wounded in an attack in central Mali on Wednesday. 

Mali’s army had earlier said five soldiers had been killed and eight wounded. However, a health official working in central Mali said the death toll had risen to 16, with 10 soldiers injured.

In its statement, the army said that troops had repelled a complex improvised explosive device attack.  Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that first erupted in the north in 2012 and has since claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.

Recall that on September 20, four Malian soldiers were killed by an IED blast in the region. A jihadist ambush also killed five soldiers in central Mali on September 12.

Laying roadside bombs or IEDs is a common tactic of jihadist groups in the region.