Armed men kill soldier, civilian in Mali’s Timbuktu: Army

BAMAKO, Mali – An army spokesman says armed men in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu have killed a soldier and his cousin.

Col. Souleymane Maiga said Monday that the men were targeted at a home Sunday night.

A neighbour said four men in a truck shot the soldier outside then followed the cousin inside, killing him and injuring a child.

A local leader says the two men were a part of the Arab community in Timbuktu. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the leader said the attack bore the marks of one by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The leader and the neighbour spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.

Northern and central Mali remain unstable despite a French-led intervention in 2013 that drove extremists from strongholds.