France confirms explosion at its embassy in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali—An assailant hurled an explosive at France’s embassy in Mali’s capital late Wednesday in an attack that wounded two Malian security guards. The blast appeared to be small, however, and caused only minor damage to an outer gate of the building.

In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said the cause of the explosion in Bamako was not immediately clear, but it was not an accident. She had no information about possible casualties or motives.

Two private Malian security guards who went to the scene afterward said one suspect had been detained—a pale-skinned man with small cuts on his head.

They said the attacker fired shots toward the embassy, and two small pock marks were visible in the glass of sentry post and half a dozen rounds appeared to have hit a nearby tree. Security forces did not return fire, they said, but one guard was wounded by a gunshot, the other was burned by the blast.

The security guards, employed by a private company hired to protect the embassy, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The main damage appeared to be a pair of black burn marks on a gray sliding metal door used by vehicles to enter the embassy from one of Bamako’s primary thoroughfares. The gate still functioned, and a silver, diplomatic four-wheel-drive vehicle exited the embassy later Wednesday night.

One of the burn marks was about one meter (yard) high on the gate. The other, slightly smaller, was on the gate and a corner wall.

About two dozen Malian security forces were dispatched to the embassy after the explosion, but all but one left soon afterward.

The West African nation of Mali, a former French colony, is one of the countries in which Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, operates.

The group has claimed responsibility for the abductions of five French citizens and two others who worked at a French-owned uranium mine in neighboring Niger.

AQIM is believed to have taken the seven to Mali.

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