Gao rebels attack French, Mali troops

Fierce fighting between Islamists and Malian-French forces raged for second day in Gao on Sunday.
GAO (Reuters) -The rebels attacked the north s largest town just days after French President Francois Hollande said Mali s sovereignty had almost been restored. It was the third major offensive there by Islamists since the town was retaken by a French-led military operation in late January.
"This time there are a lot of them and they are very determined," said a military official in Gao, who asked not to be identified. "We are trying to surround them. A lot of them have been killed and others are heading back to their homes, to melt back into the population."
France has deployed some 4,000 troops to Mali, alongside a regional African force, in a nine-week operation that has driven
Islamists into desert hideaways and mountains near the Algerian border.
Gao is a former stronghold of the MUJWA Islamist group which controlled the town for around 10 months, imposing a violent form of sharia, Islamic law.
A Reuters witness saw four Islamist fighters, two carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, one a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and another wearing what appeared to be an explosive Belt, running across a dusty street as fighting continued elsewhere in the town.
Intense shooting had been reported for around two hours on Saturday evening after a group of Islamists slipped past military checkpoints to enter the town. Calm returned during the night but the combat resumed early on Sunday morning, residents said.