Rockets fired at northern Mali French army base

Bamako, Mali: An official says two rockets have been fired at a French army base in northern Mali during a visit by France’s top military officer, but missed their target and caused no casualties.

Remi Libessart, a French military spokesman, said the attack occurred Tuesday morning while Admiral Edouard Guillaud was at the camp near the airport in Gao, but landed away from the site. He said it was not known who fired the rockets.

Gao was controlled by MUJAO, an Al Qaida-linked jihadist group, when northern Mali fell to Islamic extremists in 2012. France launched a military intervention in January 2013 that scattered the extremists, but security remains precarious.

This week, a UN Security Council visit to Mali promoted talks between the government and armed groups in the north.