Soldiers in the Mali military killed 203 militants and arrested 51 others in the centre of the Sahelian state, the army has revealed.
The military disclosed that the shelling of the militants happened in Mora in the centre of the Sahel state, between the 23rd to 31st of March.
The statistics of the death toll in the region was difficult to confirm by journalists in the region.
There had been numerous allegations on social media that the military killed civilians in their operation in Mora.
In its statement on Friday, Mali’s army said there were defamatory speculations against it as it called for “restraint”. It added that its operations were guided by international and human rights laws.
Mali had seen an increase in violence in the past few weeks with a UN airplane attacked while soldiers were killed.
Locals fleeing from violence have arrived Niger, slightly more peaceful than Mali in search of a peace and the Minusma, UN Peacekeeping mission in the Sahel said that security had worsened considerably in the border between Burkina Faso and Niger.