The black boxes from two French military helicopters that collided in Mali killing 13 soldiers have been found, a French military spokesman said Wednesday.

Thirteen French soldiers were killed in Mali when two helicopters collided while fighting insurgents in the country's restive north, officials said Tuesday, the heaviest single loss for the French military in nearly four decades.

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appealed for citizens to unite behind the country's army, after the latest deadly militant strike killed more than 40 soldiers.

At least 53 soldiers and one civilian were killed in a militant attack on a military post in northern Mali on Friday, the government said.

Six people were killed late Friday when unknown assailants attacked a post held by armed pro-government groups in strife-torn northeastern Mali, the groups said in a statement.

Eight bus passengers were killed Tuesday by a road mine in central Mali, police and the bus company said, in an attack bearing the hallmark of militants who plague the region.

Nearly 100 people were killed in a gruesome overnight attack on a village in central Mali, in the latest violence to strike the fragile region, officials said Monday.

Mali's president has named a new government after its predecessor resigned last month amid widespread protests over an upsurge of deadly inter-communal violence, a presidency statement said.

Armed men killed 18 civilians in two ambushes in Mali's restive central region, officials said Friday.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani sent Wednesday a written message to Mali President Ibrahim Boubaker Keita, pertaining to the bilateral relations between the two countries and means of supporting and developing them

Suspected jihadists killed at least 12 soldiers in an attack Sunday in central Mali, a security source told AFP, updating an earlier toll.

Malian soldiers shot dead at least one villager and injured others after a detonation they mistook for an attack in a region plagued by jihadist violence, residents and a military source said Tuesday.