17 soldiers killed in Mali base attack

Seventeen soldiers were killed and 35 wounded in central Mali in an assault on their base.

Authorities called the incidents a "coordinated terrorist attack."

"The toll has increased . We have lost 17 men and 35 are wounded," Mali's Defense Minister Tieman Hubert Coulibaly said.

Authorities had earlier announced that 12 soldiers died.

Coulibaly called the assault a "terrorist attack on our positions."

Government has yet to identify the persons responsible for the killings.