Manila: Five Malian soldiers have been found drowned in central Mali, army officials said today, days after five soldiers went missing during clashes with militants.
Four of the soldiers were found near Tenenkou yesterday evening and a fifth near the town of Mopti, about 75 km (47 miles) away on Wednesday morning, army spokesman Souleymane Maiga told Reuters.
A group of soldiers was reported missing after an attack claimed by Islamist group Ansar Dine near the village of Tenenkou on Sunday.
Destroy militants or risk IS "disease": President
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte today ordered the army to destroy the small but violent Abu Sayyaf militant group saying if not, the Philippines risked being "contaminated" by the Islamic State.
The mostly Christian Philippines has for decades battled rebels from the Muslim minority, but while progress towards peace has been made with the main insurgent faction, Abu Sayyaf militants have remained ruthless enemies of the state.
"Destroy them, that's an order," Duterte told soldiers at an army base in the southern province of Zamboanga del Sur on violence-plagued Mindanao island.