The attackers struck near the village of Kobe, around 30 kilometers from Gao in a region where affiliates of Islamic State and al-Qaida have been active for over a decade, destabilizing Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Up to 56 bodies were recorded at the hospital in Gao, the official said, adding that there also was an unknown number of military casualties….

The insurgencies took root in Mali’s arid north following a Tuareg separatist rebellion in 2012.