Mali on Tuesday said it had lost around ten soldiers in an attack last week on a camp in the northern city of Gao that was claimed by Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists.

In a post on its website, the army said a car bomb attack on September 8 “caused around ten deaths… among the Malian Armed Forces”.

The chief of general staff of the armies, General Oumar Diarra, visited the site on Sunday, it added.

No death toll had previously been reported.

The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) claimed responsibility for the incident the following day on the Al-Zallaqa propaganda platform.

SITE, an American NGO specialising in monitoring radical groups, said four people carried out the attack.

It took place amid growing tensions between government forces and various armed actors, and a succession of attacks and hostile acts around Gao and the ancient city of Timbuktu.

On September 7, at least 64 civilians and soldiers were killed in twin attacks in the north attributed to jihadists. (AFP)