Al Qaeda's North Africa branch has claimed responsibility for an attack on a UN mission police station in northern Mali that killed one Malian soldier, ABC News quoted an organization that monitors jihadi sites as saying on Saturday.

The group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed credit for Friday's attack in the northern town of Timbuktu in a statement distributed via Twitter and Telegram, SITE Intelligence group said. The statement said three assailants were involved, one of whom detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the police station, a former hotel.

The Timbuktu attack follows recent high-profile assaults by the group in West Africa. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for an attack in November on a luxury hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, that killed 20 people. Last month, the group said its fighters were behind an attack on a hotel and cafe in the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso that left 30 dead.

Source: MENA