Unknown assailants shelled the north Mali town of Gao on Sunday, killing one person and wounding three others, according to military sources and residents. Reuters report:
Mali’s desert north suffers frequent assaults by Islamist militants despite a military operation led by France to drive fighters out of the region. Separatists are also involved in conflict.
The firing began around 6 a.m. (0200 EDT). “There were three or four explosions,” a military source said. In 2012, Tuareg separatists tried to take control of the north but their rebellion was soon hijacked by better-armed and funded militants linked to al Qaeda.
Last month, the rebels turned down a U.N. peace plan hammered out with the Malian government in several months of talks, saying it did not address the roots of the conflict.
