Attack on police training academy and nearby airport one of the worst since unrest began more than a decade ago.

More than 70 people are thought to have been killed in an attack by an al-Qaeda-linked group on Mali’s capital Bamako earlier this week, according to diplomatic and security sources.

Insurgents hit a base in Mali that hosts most of the country’s warplanes along with Russian mercenaries hired by the military government for security.

Since the conflict in Mali erupted, violence has spread to neighbours in the Sahel region and reached the north of coastal countries. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the region, and some fighters are allied with Al Qaeda or Islamic State.

Militants attacked an elite police training academy and the airport on Tuesday, demonstrating their ability to strike at the heart of Mali's capital. The scale and complexity of the attacks further undermines the ruling junta's claims that security has improved since it booted out French and U.