Gunmen ambush army patrol in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) - Unidentified gunmen ambushed a military patrol in northern Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 20 others, a top military official said Sunday.
The attack occurred overnight as the soldiers in 10 army vehicles patrolled El Hank, a zone near the vast desert nation's borders with Algeria and Mali, the official said on condition of anonymity.
He said 58 troops were part of the patrol and an unknown number of them were also missing, including the unit's chief, Capt. El Kory Ould Ahmed.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but Islamist leaders in Mauritania have staunchly opposed President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Taya - who has survived several coup attempts during his 20-year reign.
In recent months, Taya's government has jailed scores of opponents, accusing them of organizing coup plots and setting up clandestine insurgent networks whose supporters have allegedly trained with the violent Salafist Group for Call and Combat insurgency in Algeria, which Western authorities in turn have linked to the al-Qaida terror network.
The country's opposition says ruling-party officials unfairly brand them terrorists in a bid to undermine their efforts to organize.
Other army officials said military reinforcements had been sent to the north, but no other details were available.-AP
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