From Mali, CEOAFRICA.com gathered that gunmen hit the northern city of Gao with series of artillery fire yesterday.

The city which was the first to be freed from Islamist occupation by a French-led military intervention experienced the first attack from the suspected militants since May.

Confirming the event, Idrissa Cisse, a municipal official in Gao told one of our sources that explosions hit the town yesterday morning with one Malian soldier wounded and a house damaged.
 
“It was indeed jihadists who fired the rockets at the city. They are still in the region,” he said.
 
French helicopters were patrolling the skies above Gao by mid-morning, and residents said calm had returned to the city.
 
The United Nations has approved the force, expected to number about 12,600 soldiers and police officers once fully deployed, to help stabilize and secure the country.