At least 21 soldiers have been killed in a raid on an army camp by suspected terrorists in the central part of West African country Mali.

Local media reports said, the attackers stormed Dioura army camp in the Mopti region at dawn and left many soldiers dead.

Once a beacon of democracy and stability in Africa, Central Mali in recent years has been dogged by a coup, civil war and terrorism. The country has in the past few years been overrun by terrorists with links to Al-Qaeda.