Ten soldiers were killed Monday in a "terrorist" attack on their camp in the  Timbuktu region of northern Mali, a military source said.

"This morning at Gourma-Rharous we pushed back a terrorist attack which caused 10 deaths in our ranks," the source added.

Two Malian soldiers were killed and four others injured in a weekend ambush in an area in the centre of the west African country notorious for jihadist attacks, officials said.