French forces detain suspects in Mali U.N. attack

Dakar; Senegal: French forces have detained three men and seized a large cache of arms which they believe were linked to a recent rocket attack on a U.N. base in northern Mali in which a Senegalese peacekeeper was killed, the French military said on Sunday.

Friday's raid on a house in the north Malian town of Kidal led to the seizure of large quantities of munitions of the kind used in attacks on U.N. forces, as well as rocket launchers, rockets and explosives, French forces said.

The owner of the house is believed to be directly linked to the attack on the U.N. base on Oct. 7, a statement from Operation Barkhane, France's counter-terrorism force in the Sahel, said.

Information discovered at the house also points to the suspected mastermind of the attack, who has since fled, according to the statement.

French forces said the three people detained would be quickly transferred to Malian authorities.

In recent months, Islamist insurgents operating in Mali's north have stepped up attacks on foreign forces. Nine U.N. peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in early October.

U.N. peacekeepers have deployed across northern Mali in an effort to secure the country after separatist fighters and Islamist rebels seized the desert region in early 2012, taking advantage of the power vacuum created by a coup in the capital.

The Islamists were scattered by French forces early last year, and elections have since been held. But there has been a marked increase in attacks on U.N. forces as France moved its focus away from Mali towards a regional security mission.

Mali's army was also forced to pull troops from the Kidal region in May after a botched attempt to seize the town from Tuareg separatists. Since then, only U.N. peacekeepers and a handful of French personnel have been based there.