At least 50 Malian soldiers were killed and 24 others captured in a joint attack by the Azawad Liberation Front and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, targeting a military convoy in the north of the country.

The Malian army said its forces had been ambushed and confirmed that retaliatory strikes were carried out against positions held by the attackers.

The assault is considered one of the deadliest attacks against the army since the conflict began in 2012.