The West African country Mali is observing a three day mourning following the death of scores of soldiers in yesterday's bomb attack on an army camp in Gao in the north of the country. The death toll has since risen to 77 as claimed by the French spokesman in Paris today. <br/><br/>France maintains a large regional operation in Mali which is the eighth largest country in Africa. France had intervened in the country in 2013 to drive back groups that got control of large swathes of Mali a year earlier. <br/><br/>A suicide bomber in a vehicle full of explosives had yesterday attacked the Joint Operational Mechanism base which houses government soldiers and armed groups who conduct mixed patrols under a UN-brokered peace deal. An al-Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa, AQIM, has claimed responsibility for the bombing.