WEB DESK

Armed men have killed 18 civilians in two ambushes its restive central region in Mali. Officials today said, twelve persons were killed on Wednesday as they went towards a blast that claimed a life of a soldier.

Security sources said that the bodies of 12 people have been booby-trapped with explosives. The deadly series of events was unleashed when a Malian army vehicle transporting rations exploded near the village of Tigula.

Mali has been embroiled in conflict since Islamist militias seized the north of the country in 2012 before being pushed back by French troops in 2013.