Three soldiers were killed Thursday by unknown assailants in Mauritania's northern desert, a military official said, according to AP. The three were gunned down near the town of Ghallawiya, around 700 kilometers (430 miles) north of Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, said Lt. Col. Mohamed Lemine Ould Taleb, a military spokesman. The gunmen arrived in two trucks and opened fire on the soldiers manning a checkpoint at the entrance to a military base, said Taleb. They seized a military vehicle equipped with a machine gun and fled, he said. «For the moment, we don't know who committed the attack,» said Taleb. «The army has launched an investigation to find the assailants.»
