At least four people have been killed and several others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in northern Mali.
Officials say a car bomb went off Saturday near a military camp in Timbuktu, killing both of the vehicle's occupants and two civilians nearby.
The powerful explosion damaged several buildings in the area.
The attack follows an announcement Thursday that separatist Tuareg rebels were pulling out of peace talks with the government.
Mali's new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who took office in August, has said restoring peace and security in Mali is his top priority.
Several militant groups, including the ethnic Tuareg, used the confusion after a military coup in the capital, Bamako, in March of 2012 to assert control in the country's north, where they planned to establish an Islamist state.
The central government reasserted its control in northern Mali after a French-led military operation in January.
The militants are no longer able to carry out major military actions, but the residual groups of these fighters stage sporadic small-scale attacks in the north.
Officials say a car bomb went off Saturday near a military camp in Timbuktu, killing both of the vehicle's occupants and two civilians nearby.
The powerful explosion damaged several buildings in the area.
The attack follows an announcement Thursday that separatist Tuareg rebels were pulling out of peace talks with the government.
Mali's new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who took office in August, has said restoring peace and security in Mali is his top priority.
Several militant groups, including the ethnic Tuareg, used the confusion after a military coup in the capital, Bamako, in March of 2012 to assert control in the country's north, where they planned to establish an Islamist state.
The central government reasserted its control in northern Mali after a French-led military operation in January.
The militants are no longer able to carry out major military actions, but the residual groups of these fighters stage sporadic small-scale attacks in the north.
