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| Mali conflict: 'First suicide bombing' in Gao | Mali conflict: 'First suicide bombing' in Gao |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A suicide bomber has blown himself up in the northern Mali town of Gao - the country's first such case, sources say. | A suicide bomber has blown himself up in the northern Mali town of Gao - the country's first such case, sources say. |
| The attacker approached a group of soldiers on a motorbike before detonating an explosive belt, injuring one of them, a Malian officer told AFP. | The attacker approached a group of soldiers on a motorbike before detonating an explosive belt, injuring one of them, a Malian officer told AFP. |
| Gao is the most populous city in northern Mali, which was captured by Islamist militants last year. | Gao is the most populous city in northern Mali, which was captured by Islamist militants last year. |
| Meanwhile, there are report of exchanges of fire between rival soldiers in the capital, Bamako. | Meanwhile, there are report of exchanges of fire between rival soldiers in the capital, Bamako. |
| Heavily armed soldiers attacked a camp of elite paratroopers, leaving "many injured", a soldier insider the camp told AFP. | Heavily armed soldiers attacked a camp of elite paratroopers, leaving "many injured", a soldier insider the camp told AFP. |
| A BBC reporter in the city said he had heard shooting. A Malian defence official told Reuters news agency the paratroopers had mutinied after being disciplined. | |
| France has sent some 4,000 troops to northern Mali to oust the militants. | France has sent some 4,000 troops to northern Mali to oust the militants. |
| They have retaken control of the main towns, while most of the militants are reported to have fled to mountains near the Algerian border. | |
| On Thursday, there were unconfirmed reports that four Malian soldiers had been killed by a landmine on a road near Gao, with one of the militant groups saying it had carried out the attack. | |
| The militants took advantage of a coup in March 2012 to extend their control across the whole of northern Mali - an area of the Sahara Desert larger than France. | |
| Several different militant groups joined together to fight Mali's army - some ethnic Tuareg groups were fighting for independence for northern Mali, while others had an Islamist agenda and were allied to al-Qaeda, with reports of foreign jihadis joining them. |