Mali's military says five suicide bombers were killed Friday during attacks in the north on pro-government troops.
A military spokesman tells VOA that soldiers in the town of Gossi fired on four men who ignored orders to stop while approaching a checkpoint on foot. He says explosions went off after the gunfire, injuring two Malian soldiers.
The spokesman says that separately, a man drove a car bomb into a military camp in Menaka, prompting gunfire by soldiers from Niger. The car exploded, killing the driver, but causing no other injuries.
Islamist militants have carried out periodic attacks against the French and Malian troops who drove them out of northern Mali's towns and cities earlier this year.
France has begun withdrawing some of its 4,000 military personnel from Mali but plans to leave around 1,000 troops to help African forces keep the troubled country stable.
A military spokesman tells VOA that soldiers in the town of Gossi fired on four men who ignored orders to stop while approaching a checkpoint on foot. He says explosions went off after the gunfire, injuring two Malian soldiers.
The spokesman says that separately, a man drove a car bomb into a military camp in Menaka, prompting gunfire by soldiers from Niger. The car exploded, killing the driver, but causing no other injuries.
Islamist militants have carried out periodic attacks against the French and Malian troops who drove them out of northern Mali's towns and cities earlier this year.
France has begun withdrawing some of its 4,000 military personnel from Mali but plans to leave around 1,000 troops to help African forces keep the troubled country stable.