As paratroopers and government forces fight each other.
French and Malian soldiers on the Niger River on Thursday. (Jerome Delay/AP),Jerome Delay
A suicide bomber approached a Mali military checkpoint on a motorcycle Friday, wounding a soldier after detonating his explosives and killing himself. Officials say it was the first suicide bombing since the French and Malian militaries joined forces against Islamist rebels last month. Meanwhile, in the African country’s capital, Bamako, paratroopers wearing red berets and protesting to join the fight against the Islamists exchanged fire with government forces.
