Bamako (AFP) - An explosion killed at least nine people on a bus in central Mali on Thursday, a region regularly rocked by jihadist violence, according to police and local sources.

The bus was struck by a blast on the road between Bandiagara and Goundaka, in the Mopti area in the early afternoon, a security source said.

“We have just transferred nine bodies to the clinic. And it’s not over yet,” said Moussa Housseyni of the local Bandiagara Youth Association.

A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, gave a provisional toll of ten dead and many seriously injured.

Mali is struggling with a long jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are among the jihadists’ weapons of choice. They can explode on impact or be detonated remotely.

A report by the UN mission in Mali MINUSMA found that as of August 31, mines and IEDs had caused 72 deaths. Most of the victims are soldiers – but a quarter are civilians, it said.