The country's armed forces said on Twitter that they had killed "about 30 terrorists" near the border with neighbouring Burkina Faso on Thursday afternoon. 

It added that it had seized some 25 motorbikes as well as other equipment, without offering further details about the attack. 

Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives since.

Despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops, the conflict has engulfed the centre of the country and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOavNaBX4NU