Extremists rattle off rifles for hours in Malian attack

GAO, Mali — Black-robed Islamic extremists armed with AK-47 automatic rifles invaded Gao in wooden boats Sunday to launch a surprise attack on the most populous city in northern Mali, two weeks after French and Malian troops ousted the jihadists.

Gunfire echoed for hours across the city of mud-walled buildings. The combat started at about 2 p.m. in downtown Gao and the fighting was continuing as night fell.

Families hid in their homes. One family handed plastic cups of water through the locked iron gate to others hiding on their patio. Piles of onions lay unattended where market women fled when the Islamists arrived. There were no signs of civilian casualties.

The attack foreshadows a protracted campaign by France and other nations to restore government control in this vast Saharan nation in northwest Africa.

Ever since French forces took Gao on Jan. 26, the Islamic rebels had clashed with security forces on the city’s outskirts. This was the first time they succeeded in re-entering the strategic city.

The Islamic fighters used pirogues, large wooden dugouts with motors, and other boats to cross the Niger River, according to French Gen. Bernard Barrera. The armed Islamic fighters seized the northern half of Mali in April 2012. France launched its military intervention Jan. 11 when the Islamic radicals began encroaching on the south, threatening the capital Bamako which lies deep in southern Mali, 750 miles from Gao.

French and Malian forces have also retaken the fabled city of Timbuktu and other northern towns, pushing the Islamic extremists back into the desert. But the Islamic fighters dug into desert hideouts, from where they are expected to continue challenging French, Malian and allied forces.