MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Defense Minister of Mali Sadio Camara was assassinated near his residence after an explosive-laden vehicle exploded during an attempted coup in the country, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"The country’s defense minister was killed following a blast caused by an explosive-laden vehicle near his residence," the ministry reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry also reported in its statement that: "The enemy lost more than 2,500 fighters, 102 motor vehicles, two suicide bombing cars, 152 motorcycles, and seven mortars during fighting."

Radical groups attacked a number of cities across Mali in a coordinated offensive on April 25. General Staff of Mali’s Armed Forces announced on the same day that all militant attacks had been repelled and that the attackers had suffered heavy losses.

Some media outlets claimed that Malian President Assimi Goita had been evacuated from the main presidential residence, located at a military base in the Kati suburb of the capital Bamako, during an attack by radical militants.