After eight months of talks, the Malian government and Tuareg rebels are close to a peace deal. Now terror attacks are undermining hopes of an end to violence.
Armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades, masked gunmen burst into a night club in the Malian capital Bamako on Saturday (07.03.2015). Screaming "Allahu akbar" (God is great), they opened fire. Witnesses reported the gunmen singled out a French national and shot him. They fled the premises killing as they went and altogether five people died in that night of violence. The following day Al-Murabitoun, an Algieran jihadist group, claimed responsibility for the assault. They said it was in retaliation for the death of one of their leaders who was killed by French troops in northern Mali in December 2014.
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