Sharjah24 – AFP: At least 11 people were killed and 53 injured when a bus hit an explosive device in central Mali on Thursday, according to a hospital source.

The explosion occurred on the road between Bandiagara and Goundaka in the Mopti area in the early afternoon, a security source said. The region is known as a hotbed for jihadist violence.

Earlier, police and local sources gave a provisional toll of 10 dead and many seriously injured.

Mali has long struggled with a militas insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.