Unidentified gunmen attack U.N. base in northern Mali

Unidentified gunmen attacked a base for U.N. peacekeepers in the northern Mali town of Kidal on Saturday and residents heard mortar fire, a Reuters witness and a U.N. peacekeeper at the base said.

There was no immediate comment from the U.N. force (MINUSMA).

French troops and the U.N. force are struggling to stabilise the former French colony where Islamist militants attacked a hotel in the capital on Nov. 20 and killed 20 people.