Suicide bomber hits north Mali; govt troops clash in capital

Gao (Mali), Feb 8 (AFP) A suicide bomber blew himself up in northern Mali today as a dramatic turn towards guerrilla tactics by Islamists and an outbreak of fighting amongst soldiers in the capital suggested that the war was far from won for the embattled nation. In Mali's first ever suicide bombing, an attacker drove up to a group of Malian troops in Gao, the largest town in the north, and detonated an explosive belt, wounding one soldier, said First Sergeant Mamadou Keita. The bomber, a young Tuareg, was also carrying a larger bomb that failed to detonate, Keita said. The Islamists, who occupied northern Mali for 10 months, have resorted to guerrilla warfare after being ousted by French-led troops who today took control of the strategic town of Tessalit near the Algerian border. Meanwhile, in the capital Bamako, infighting in Mali's deeply-divided military erupted as soldiers attacked a camp of elite paratroopers loyal to ex-president Amadou Toumani Toure, who was ousted in a March coup. The attack was launched by soldiers from Mali's poor and ramshackle army after their humiliation in the north at the hands of well-armed rebels fighting for independence for the Tuareg, a northern people who have long complained of being marginalised by Bamako. The 'Red Beret', as the paratroopers are called, had launched a failed counter-coup and the gunfight today broke out after they refused to be absorbed into other units and go to the northern frontline. The violence came on the day the first EU military trainers were due in Bamako to try to whip the Malian army into shape to face the Islamists. France launched a surprise intervention on January 11 in its former colony as the insurgents advanced towards the capital, raising fears the entire country could become a sanctuary for al-Qaeda-linked groups. Paris is anxious to hand over the operation to UN peacekeepers amid fears of a prolonged insurgency, which would likely have been amplified by today's suicide bombing. The suicide attack came a day after one of the Islamist groups, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), said in a message to AFP that it had "created a new combat zone" by organising suicide bombings, attacking military convoys and placing landmines. After announcing plans to start withdrawing its 4,000 soldiers in March, France on Wednesday called for a UN peacekeeping force to take over even as UN leader Ban Ki-moon yesterday expressed concern at the risk of a guerrilla fightback. (AFP) KKM KKM 02082049 NNNN