At least two Mali soldiers were killed and several wounded in an overnight attack attributed to jihadist fighters, the army said Saturday.

The assailants targeted a military position in the village of Dinangourou, near the Burkina Faso border, the military said on social media, without giving more details.

Local prefect Abdoulaye Bore put the toll at three soldiers killed with three others wounded.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Mali has been engulfed in conflict since 2012, when ethnic Tuareg militias and jihadists launched a rebellion in the country's north. 

The Jihadist insurgents have swept south into central Mali, as well as into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger -- inflaming ethnic tensions along the way.

Eight years on from the initial rebellion, militant attacks and ethnic killings are routine, and large swathes of the country remain outside of government control, despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the conflict to date, and hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes.

The leaders of Mali and France will meet in Mauritania on Tuesday to discuss the situation.