A triple suicide bomb attack on about 20 buildings in the central Mali town of Sevare early Saturday killed at least nine people and injured more than 60.

All of those who were killed and wounded in Saturday’s blasts were civilians, according to a spokesperson for the regional governor.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but extremist insurgents are known to operate in the area and have been ravaging the country for a decade.

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The attack comes just two days after an ambush killed Mali’s interim president’s chief of staff and three others.

Earlier on Saturday, the West African country’s government announced on national television that “a terrorist attack” had been foiled.

Mali is at the epicenter of a violent insurgency that began in its arid north following a Tuareg separatist rebellion in 2012.

The place where the attack took place is home to a major Mali military base as well as troops from the United Nations mission in Mali.

In another incident in Mali’s capital, Bamako, a military helicopter crashed in a residential neighborhood while returning from a mission. The Malian army said the accident is being evaluated.