U.N. peacekeeping base and a Malian army checkpoint attacked in northern city of Timbuktu by unknown assailants.

REUTERS – Unknown assailants attacked a U.N. peacekeeping base and a Malian army checkpoint on the outskirts of Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu early on Friday, residents and military sources said.

Bodies lay on the ground near the U.N. compound, where Nigerian forces are based, a resident said. Gunfire continued to ring out from the base.

Our journalists are working on this story and will update it as soon as more information becomes available.