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UN police base under attack in Mali  

By REUTERS
February 05, 2016

BAMAKO: Unknown assailants attacked and withdrew inside a UN police base in the Malian city of Timbuktu on Friday morning, the United Nations said, while security sources said a Malian army checkpoint in the city had also come under fire.

The attackers drove up to the entrance of the UN base in the former Hotel Palmeraie at around 6:30 a.m.(0630 GMT) and then detonated their vehicle, said Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

"An unknown number of assailants have withdrawn inside the camp.

An operation is currently under way with Malian and MINUSMA forces," he said, adding that an injured police officer had been evacuated.

A military source in Timbuktu said the site, near the entrance to the city, had been taken over exclusively by a Nigerian police contingent, and there were no other residents as the hotel was no longer operational.

He could not say whether there were any UN personnel inside the site with the attackers.