A gunbattle between Malian soldiers and suspected Islamist fighters erupted in the center of Gao on Sunday, as militants defied a security lock-down by French and Malian troops following two suicide bomb attacks in two days.
Residents and journalists reported heavy gunfire and several explosions near a police station in the sprawling Saharan town, the largest in northern Mali. They said government forces were fighting rebels from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO.
Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA
There was no immediate confirmation from Malian and French military authorities.