French soldier killed in Mali suicide bombing

[World News]

A French soldier was killed in a suicide bombing in northern Mali, where local and foreign troops have struggled to restore order after quelling an Islamist insurgency last year, officials said. The Foreign Legion soldier, the ninth to die since France intervened in its former colony‎ in January 2013, died from wounds after coming under attack about 100 km (64 miles) north of the city of Gao on Monday, the defense ministry said. France's intervention in the African country halted the advance of al Qaeda-linked Islamists who had taken advantage of a Tuareg separatist uprising to occupy swathes of land in the north. France and other Western powers feared the Islamists could further destabilize the region and use the country as a launchpad for foreign attacks.

Continue reading...