Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists claim UN suicide attack in Mali

[WorldNews]

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The Al-Qaeda-linked group of notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar claimed responsibility in a recording Friday for a deadly suicide attack on the United Nations in Mali. Two civilians were killed and nine peacekeepers from Niger wounded when a militant set off explosives as he attempted to drive into a camp used by the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in Ansongo, in the northern region of Gao, on Wednesday. In an audio message sent to the Mauritanian news agency Alakhbar -- which frequently publishes statements attributed to extremist groups, who never deny them -- Belmokhtar's Al-Murabitoun group said it had carried out the attack. The group said the bomber targeted Niger nationals because their president, Mahamadou Issoufou, took part in the mass Paris rally over the jihadist attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in January.

 

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