Dubai, 08 July-(ANA)- Al-Qaeda's North African wing says it has killed 28 Malian soldiers in a weekend attack, according to an Internet statement published after Mali's president declared all-out war on the Islamist group.
But Mali's army dismissed the claim as propaganda, saying that in a recent clash in the north there were "dozens of dead on either side," but Al-Qaeda had lost the most men.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said it killed the soldiers and captured another three in the strike on a Malian military convoy in al-Wasra, northern Mali on July 4, according to the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.
"This blessed invasion comes in the context of the war waged by the Malian army on the behalf of the Crusaders against Al-Qaeda Organisation, especially after the British infidel was killed," said the statement.(ANA)