Land mine kills 4 Malian troops

BAMAKO/SEVARE: At least four Malian soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a land mine suspected to have been planted by fleeing insurgents in northern Mali, a Malian military officer said yesterday.
A Malian military spokesman says four Malian soldiers died and five others were wounded when their vehicle hit a land mine in eastern Mali. Modibo Traore told The Associated Press that the soldiers were killed Wednesday evening in the town of Gossi.
“The explosion of the patrol vehicle killing four soldiers and wounding five happened between Gossi and Gao on Wednesday,” another officer, requesting not to be named, said.
Gao, the largest town in northern Mali, was occupied by insurgents until the weekend, when they fled a three-week air and ground offensive by French and Malian forces.
After being pounded by French air strikes, the militants have abandoned towns and melted away into the deserts and caves of northern Mali. A French military commander warned last week of the risk of mines and booby traps in the insurgents’ wake.
The town is located between the towns of Hombori and Gao, both of which had been under militants’ rule until the French-led military offensive began earlier this month.
The French and Malians have been able to grab back control of the provincial capitals of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal in a matter of weeks. However, questions remain about whether the Malian military and its West African allies can hold the cities once the French leave.
“We strongly suspect the insurgents placed this landmine. It happened in an area which had been under their control. But we don’t know if it was placed before they left or if they came back to place it.”
Hombori, 920 kilometres north east of the capital Bamako, was taken by French-led troops on Jan. 25 without resistance from the rebels who had occupied it nine months earlier.
It was in this town that two Frenchmen were kidnapped by AQIM in September 2011.
Douentza, about 100 km south from Hombori, was seized by the insurgents in September last year and lay on the frontline with government-held territory until the insurgent’s push south in January which sparked the French offensive.
The French and Malian troops recaptured it on Jan. 21.
French troops have warned against landmines or homemade bombs lying around recently liberated towns that could have been left by the fleeing militants.