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            UN Peacekeeper, 2 Civilians Killed in Mali Rocket Attack

   by VOA News

   A U.N. peacekeeper and two civilians were killed in a spray of rocket
   fire on and near a United Nations base camp in northern Mali.

   A U.N. statement said eight soldiers were also wounded, and that "the
   rockets also hit ... citizens outside the camp," killing two people and
   wounding four others.

   ''It was not immediately clear who is responsible for the attack, which
   took place Sunday morning.

   The attack came a day after gunmen killed at least five people and
   wounded several others in an attack on a restaurant in Mali's capital,
   Bamako.

   The attack Saturday on La Terrasse restaurant took place in the early
   morning hours. A hooded gunman ran into the restaurant and opened fire
   on guests then got into a vehicle where another was waiting and they
   sped away, police said.

   Two people were detained shortly afterwards, but police could not
   confirm that they were linked to the attack.

   Three Malians, a French national and a Belgian were killed. The
   restaurant is in a Bamako neighborhood popular with expatriates.

   French President Francois Hollande denounced the attack as a "cowardly
   act" and said that security has been stepped up at the French embassy
   and other French installations in Mali, a former French colony.

   France has helped wrest control of Mali's northern territory from
   separatist rebels and al-Qaida-linked fighters.

   It still has about 3,000 troops there. Mali's government signed a
   preliminary peace deal recently with some of the country's northern
   separatist groups, but the main Tuareg rebel alliance asked for more
   time for consultations before agreeing to the accord.

   The region remains plagued by violence, but Bamako, in the south, has
   been largely peaceful.

   Lynching of suspects

   In a separate incident in northern Mali, an angry mob lynched and
   burned two suspected bombers in the town of Gao Saturday, security
   sources said.  The suspects were planning to set off bombs remotely
   when they were surprised by Gao residents who reportedly would not be
   stopped.

   In a statement, Hollande's office said France has agreed with Mali to
   implement new measures to reinforce security, although no details were
   given. The statement also said President Hollande will meet with Malian
   President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to show his sympathy and France's
   support.

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is visiting Paris, called the
   attack in Bamako a "horrific" and "cowardly" act of terrorism. He added
   that the act of opening fire on a restaurant filled with innocent
   civilians "only strengthens our resolve to fight terrorism in all of
   its forms, wherever it exists."

   Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders also condemned the attack.

   The Mauritanian news website Al Akhbar has said that the
   al-Qaida-linked group al-Mourabitoun has claimed responsibility for an
   attack in Mali's capital that killed five people.

   Al Akhbar often posts statements by Islamist militants in Mali.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-peacekeeper-two-civilians-killed-in-mali-rocket-attack/2671955.html