MALIANS VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF.

BAMAKO• Malians voted Sunday in a runoff presidential election to determine if incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keita will remain in office in this sprawling West African nation threatened by rising extremist violence. He faced off against opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.

Sunday’s polls had low turnout by closing amid attacks and threats of violence by Islamic extremists.

Results are expected this week.

The chairman of Arkodia village in the north Niafunke commune in Timbuktu region was killed, four election workers were physically harassed and the polling station there was burned, according to the Citizen Observation Pool of Mali which had more than 2,000 observers. The organization reported several incidents Sunday.

Two polling stations were burned in Keltamba and election officials were harmed by gunmen in Ngouma commune in central Mali, observers said.

In north and central Mali more than 50 polling stations had closed before noon because of the threats by extremists in those regions, the organization said.

In the polling centres covered by its observers, the organization said the participation rate was about 8.1 per cent. It said 14.4 per cent participated in Timbuktu, and only 4.8 per cent in Bamako.

However, their observers did not cover all voting areas, and the election commission hasn’t yet given its estimate of voter turnout.

In the July 29 first-round presidential vote, extremists killed three election workers and destroyed some voting materials.

Nearly 43 per cent of voters made it to the polls last month and at least 671 polling stations were closed. Despite the relatively low turnout officials called the vote well-conducted.

Mali has grown more insecure since Keita beat Cisse in a second round election in 2013.

Malian authorities arrested three jihadists on Friday who said they were preparing to carry out an attack during the vote in Bamako, said Mali army spokesman Col. Idrissa Traore on Sunday.

Extremists are staging more bold attacks that have spread to central Mali, where both Islamic State and al-Qaida-linked militants are present.