24 Killed as Insurgents Attack Army Base
Mauritania’s defense minister said Algerian insurgents had attacked an army base in his country’s northern desert, setting off a gun battle that left at least 24 people dead.
President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya, who has survived several coup bids during his 20-year reign, called an emergency meeting of his commanders.
Those killed in the overnight assault in Mgheiti, near the nation’s borders with Algeria and Mali, included 15 Mauritanian soldiers and nine attackers, Defense Minister Baba Ould Sidi told reporters in the capital.
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