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C-130 fired upon during food drop in Africa

BAMAKO, Mali — Gunmen hit a U.S. military cargo plane flying food to Malian troops fighting rebels in the far north of the country, U.S. and Malian officials said Thursday. No one was injured in the attack and the plane, which suffered minor damage, landed safely.

Air Force Maj. Pam Cook, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military command in Stuttgart, Germany, that covers Africa, said the C-130 plane was shot at late Tuesday or early Wednesday over Tin-Zawatine, a desert village on Mali’s border with Algeria. The U.S. has provided military training and support to Mali and other African nations for years as part of its counterterrorism campaign.

Cook said the Malian troops were “pinned down” in Tin-Zawatine — but it was not clear if their movements were restricted by rebel fire or because the area was heavily mined.

She said the aircraft was struck by gunfire and suffered “minor damage” but landed safely. It did not return fire.

According to a senior Malian military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is unauthorized to speak to the press, the gunmen used Kalashnikov automatic rifles during the attack, which he said occurred just after the plane finished its final food drop early Wednesday.

Delivering food by land to the region is no longer safe because much of the area is mined, he said.

Malian officials called the gunmen “armed bandits,” a phrase the government commonly uses for Tuareg rebels active in the far north.

Though Mali is often called one of the most stable countries in West Africa, its northeastern desert region was the launching point for a 1990s Tuareg rebellion.

Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military has been concerned that al-Qaida-linked terror groups could use northwest Africa’s lawless, unpoliced deserts — long used by smugglers — to train, set up bases, or plan attacks.

Cook said the American aircraft was carrying about 14,000 pounds of food provided by the Malian government and the drop was completed before the attack.