The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack in the Menaka region of northeastern Mali last week, which it said killed 16 soldiers.

Mali’s ruling junta has not spoken about the incident since reports of it began to emerge on Aug. 3.

In its Amaq propaganda platform, the Islamic State said fighters affiliated with it ambushed a Malian army convoy traveling toward Niger.

Dozens of soldiers were injured, and the fighting lasted about an hour, the group said.

Mali has since 2012 been battling a jihadist insurgency that began in the north and spread to the center of the country and to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Menaka region has for months been at the forefront of a push by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

A recent Human Rights Watch report accused the group of being behind “hundreds” of deaths and forcing thousands from their homes since the start of the year.