Suicide attack in Timbuktu wounds soldier: officer

BAMAKO (AFP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at an army barricade in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu, wounding a soldier, a military officer said.

"A jihadist suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt after trying unsuccessfully to force his way through the barricade at the west entrance to Timbuktu, which was guarded by Malian soldiers," the officer told AFP by phone.

"A Malian soldier was wounded" and the bomber died instantly, he added, saying he could not give further details.

"It was a jihadist, that's all I can tell you for now. He failed," he said.

Several residents of the fabled caravan city at the edge of the Sahara Desert reported hearing a loud explosion Saturday night followed by sustained gunfire.

"Everyone hid inside the house," one resident told AFP. "No civilians were outside. We were afraid."

Mali has been the target of a series of attacks claimed by Islamist insurgents since France launched a military intervention against Al-Qaeda-linked groups that had seized the north of the country.

The French-led operation, launched on January 11, has forced the Islamists from the cities they had occupied for 10 months in the chaotic aftermath of a March 2012 military coup.

But French and African forces have faced continuing suicide blasts and guerrilla attacks in reclaimed territory.