Gunmen attacked and fired rockets at a United Nations peacekeeping base in Kidal, northern Mali on Saturday, causing an unspecified number of casualties, Reuters reports.
“The attack happened at around 4 a.m. (0400 GMT). Four or five rockets landed inside the base. Quite a few people were wounded but it’s too early for a precise number,” MINUSMA spokesman Olivier Salgado told Reuters.
French troops are the UN force are trying to stabilize the former French colony where Islamist militants attacked a hotel in the capital on November 20, killing 20 people.
Three Islamist militant groups; al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI), al Mourabitoun and Massina Liberation Front (MLF) claimed responsibility for the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel.
Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, some with links to al Qaeda, for most of 2012. They were driven out by a French-led military operation, but violence has continued.
