An attack by “unknown armed terrorists” has been carried out on military barracks and other targets in the capital Bamako, the military in Mali reported on Saturday.

Attacks had also occurred in other locations in the country, the general staff reported. Fighting was ongoing, a brief statement said.

Witnesses reported intense fighting in a town near the capital where junta leader General Assimi Goita lives, and in other key cities.

Mali, a landlocked West African country, has been ruled by a military junta since 2020.

It has been stricken by more than a decade of jihadist conflict.

A Malian army statement said: “Terrorist groups, not yet identified, early this morning targeted certain points and barracks in the capital and the interior” of the country.