Unknown attackers fired dozens of rockets towards a U.N. base on the outskirts of the north Malian town of Kidal early on Sunday, killing at least three people, a witness and security sources said. The witness counted more than 40 weapons fired in the direction of the base. At least one shell fell on a nearby camp for Tuareg nomads, killing two people and injuring several children, he said. Security sources said a U.N. peacekeeper was killed and several were injured in the attack which took place shortly before dawn. U.N. and French troops inside the Kidal base returned fire and calm has now returned, they said. A spokeswoman for the U.N mission to Mali known as MINUSMA declined to give an immediate comment. A French army spokesman could not be reached for immediate comment. The incident comes a day after a rare attack in a restaurant of Mali's capital Bamako which killed five people, including two foreigners, highlighting continued volatility in Mali two years after France helped retake territory from al Qaeda-linked militants.
