The army on its Twitter feed said that the attack occurred on a road between the villages of Boni and Hombori.

"FAMA (the Malian armed forces) suffered five dead. Equipment was also destroyed," it said.

A local official said gunfire was heard and another said "the jihadists... burned at least two military vehicles. At least two soldiers were also wounded."

Northern Mali fell into the hands of jihadists in 2012 before the rebels were forced out by a French-led military intervention.

However, much of the region remains chronically unstable and since 2015 violence has spread to the centre of the country.