Summary The statement did not say who was behind the attack but described it as a 'terrorist act'
BAMAKO (AFP) - Militants killed one soldier and wounded seven more in the second deadly ambush on Malian troops in as many days, the army and the government said on Thursday.
A detachment came under fire around 6:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Wednesday near the town of Diafarabe, in the central region of Mopti, according to a statement from the military, which added that one soldier was still missing.
The statement did not say who was behind the attack but described it as a "terrorist act".
The government condemned the bloodshed and said in a statement it encouraged troops to continue to "fight tirelessly against terrorism" and to protect Malians and their property.
The attack on Wednesday came the day after two Malian soldiers were killed in a pre-dawn "heavy arms" attack against an army checkpoint outside Timbuktu in northern Mali, according to the defence ministry and a UN source told AFP.
The violence follows a deadly ambush on August 3, also in the Timbuktu region, when 10 soldiers were killed at their camp at Gourma-Rharous by what was believed to be jihadist fighters linked to Islamist group Ansar Dine.
Jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda seized control of Mali s vast arid north from March 2012 until January 2013 when they were pushed back by forces from France, the country s former colonial ruler.
But parts of the remote north remain out of the control of the army or of the UN military mission as the country struggles to restore peace.
There were hopes of a return to stability in May when northern-based loyalist militias signed a peace deal with Tuareg rebels in the area, but the security situation remains fragile.
