“Niang, a Malian officer who was part of the counter-offensive operation on the Minusma base [UN peacekeeping force in Mali] died as a result of a false maneuver with his tank”, a Malian security source told Anadolu Agency.
Advertisement
Few people – several police officers – were inside at the time, Salgado said.
Simultaneously, a Malian army checkpoint in the Kabara neighborhood near the Timbuktu airport was attacked by gunmen. They blew up their vehicle before attacking the camp with mortar.
An unknown number of militants had attacked and entered the base on Friday morning.
Shots were still being heard in the area, a source in the United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali (MINUSMA) told AFP, indicating hours-long fighting.
The army had reports that a vehicle being used by the suspected Islamists had “infiltrated the town of Timbuktu itself”, the military source added.
The La Palmeraie hotel in Timbuktu houses the Nigerian contingent of the United Nations peacekeepers in the country’s northern region, eyewitnesses said.
A local resident said the assailants seemed to have “really prepared their plan”. “They are now inspecting the site and looking for explosive devices”.
Al-Qaida-linked fighters occupied Mali’s north in 2012, but were pushed out of strongholds by French-led forces in 2013.
UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova, who visited Timbuktu in July a year ago, warned in a message that “the dangers were far from over”.
Advertisement
Large swathes of Mali remain lawless however despite a June peace deal between the former Tuareg rebels and rival pro-government armed groups.
