Sharjah24 – AFP: Sixteen civilians were killed near Gao in northern Mali when their vehicle hit a mine, hospital sources said Thursday.

Two hospital sources in the north's largest city confirmed the toll from the Wednesday blast the latest civilian deaths in a region plagued by a years-long insurgency.

"Three more wounded people are in the hospital in Gao," one of the sources said, adding that the 16 dead had been buried in the city on Thursday.

"The wounded said that the vehicle was on its way to a fair in the village of Ntillit, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Gao," the second hospital source said.

An improvised explosive device killed two civilians on May 8 near Tessalit in northern Mali, the day after three soldiers were also killed when a bomb blast hit their convoy near Hombori in the country's centre.