BAMAKO, Feb 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Four police were wounded in a suspected jihadist attack on a minister's convoy in
southern Mali, a security source, a member of the group targeted and reporters said Friday.

The attack, which took place near Niena in the southern Sikasso region Thursday afternoon, targeted the convoy of Mali's
Minister of Higher Education, Bourema Kansaye.

"There are no deaths. But there are several injured -- some seriously," a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"The incident is confirmed. There are some injured -- I do not know how many. The delegation arrived at its destination," a
member of the convoy said.

Wamaps, a blog grouping West African journalists covering security news in the Sahel, reported that "on 13/02, shortly after
noon, terrorists from Katiba Macina (affiliated with Al-Qaeda) attacked the convoy of Bourema Kansaye, minister of higher
education.

"The terrorists fired a rocket at the convoy and caused a large explosion. Heavy gunfire was exchanged between the
gendarmes protecting the convoy and the terrorists. Wamaps said, adding four gendarmes were injured.

Mali, run by a military junta following coups in 2020 and 2021, has spent the past dozen years mired in a security crisis due
to violence by groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

Repeated jihadist attacks have undermined junta claims to have turned the tide of unrest.

A suspected jihadist attack on a large convoy escorted by the army left 32 civilians and soldiers dead last week.

In April 2023, the chief of staff of the president of the military-dominated transition, General Assimi Goïta, was killed in an
attack on his convoy near the Mauritanian border.