Bamako – A rocket was fired by militants into the centre of rebel-infested northern Mali’s largest city on Monday, no damage was caused but there was a high level of panicking amongst the residents.
The rocket launch took place from outside the regional capital of around 90,000 people, which was occupied by Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 before being captured by French and Malian forces.
Gao councillor Moctar Bandiougou said the rocket had “made a large hole” in the town centre.
Rocket attacks are common in Mali and usually Islamist fighters are blamed.
Mali is currently in a state of crisis following the coup of March 2012.
Since the coup took place, Islamist groups have managed to seize the vast north of the country, where they ran cities under their brutal version of Islamic sharia for nine months.
Various jihadist units are believed to be regrouping and carry out frequent guerilla-style attacks from their desert bolt holes.
More problems for Mali are from the separatist rebellion launched by the Tuareg, traditionally a federation of nomad tribes who rebelled in Mali and Niger in the 1960s and the 1990s, and are seeking some kind of self-determination for the country’s north, a swathe of desert the size of Texas they call Azawad.
Comments
About Author
