Nine soldiers have been killed in an attack near the central Malian town of Bandiagara, in an area where armed groups are rampant, a military official has said.
Army and local officials had earlier spoken of a death toll of eight in the attack on a gendarmerie post which took place on Thursday night.
Nine Malian soldiers were also wounded, five of them seriously, according to a military official who declined to be named.
A local official also said there was a long exchange of fire with a large number of fighters.