PARIS: Thirty jihadists were killed in a clash with French and Malian troops near Mali's border with Niger, the French military said yesterday, reports AFP. The fight, involving a group of about 60 jihadists, took place on Sunday in the Akabar area, spokesman Colonel Patrik Steiger said, adding that Malian forces sustained "losses" but there were no French casualties. French commandos and Malian forces began a "reconnaissance and control operation" in the Akabar region on March 28, working in liaison with the Nigerien army and a local self-defence group, Steiger said.

"On April 1, they were confronted by an ATG [armed terrorist group] estimated to number 60 individuals, around 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Menaka and three kilometres from the Nigerien border," he said.