Incident
At around 09:00 local time, a vehicle filled with explosives entered the Joint Operational Mechanism base that housed members of the Military of Mali, Malian Army and former militants who had signed a peace agreement with the government. According to an army spokesman, the vehicle was marked with insignia of the active military unit in the area. Dozens of people were killed, though the exact number was initially unclear—Malian state broadcaster Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Mali, ORTM said that 47 were dead, while the President's office estimated there to be 60 fatalities and 115 injured. On 19 January, a French Army spokesman said that the death toll had risen to 77. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack through its Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), Al-Mourabitoun affiliate, saying that the bombing had been "punishment for Mali, Mali's cooperation with France." The statement attributed the attack to the Mourabitoun battalion and identified the bomber as Abdul Hadi al-Fulani.Response
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared a three-day period of national mourning, while Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said that while the attack was "criminal, cowardly, [and] barbaric," it would not end the government's efforts to reach peace with the country's militant fighters. Defence Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maïga was scheduled to travel to Gao in response to the bombing.References
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