Bamako – No fewer than two ns civilian and a customs agent were killed after gunmen fired at a customs services office in central Mali on Thursday morning.
The attackers fired at the station from two 4×4 vehicles in Hombori, a small town in the Mopti Region near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso, security sources told newsmen.
In a related development, three soldiers were killed in central Mali on Wednesday when their patrol vehicle hit an explosive device in Mondoro, also in the Mopti region.
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Mondoro is 300 kilometres southwest of Gao, where up to 400 German soldiers are due to be stationed as part of a UN peacekeeping mission – the first 40 German soldiers arrived early February.
The attack comes ahead of the visit of German President Joachim Gauck who is expected to hold talks with Malian authorities in Bamako.
It will be recalled that in 2012, northern Mali temporarily fell into the hands of militant fighters who were pushed back after the intervention of the country’s former colonial power, France. (dpa/NAN)
