A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in the Malian northern city of Gao the first time such a bombing attack has been carried out since the French led troops entered the country.

The attacker died but no casualties were recorded on the side of the Malian army.

The French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian last week warned that it will be immature to start celebrating for victory as he thinks that the Islamist Militants can stage a surprise come-back.

Local reporters say the attacker, named Al Farouk, had lived in the town for about seven months and were affiliated with jihadists group known as the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa MOJWA.

The MOJWA has officially claimed responsibility for the attack and indicated that more attacks are to be expected from them.

There were reports of clashes on Thursday and Friday in the capital Bamako and other cities between the Malian army and various militant factions group with some unconfirmed casualties being recorded.

With this and the growing number of improvised explosive attacks against military convoys, it seems more and more apparent that the rebel movement, having withdrawn from Mali’s cities, are now engaged in a more straightforward insurgency.

But despite a large number of air strikes, Mali’s rebel leadership has more or less remained untouched, and has moved into a series of caves and tunnels in the northern desert areas which will be extremely difficult to flush them out of their hidden places.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News