A car bomb killed two UN Senegalese peacekeepers and destroyed the only operating bank in the northern Malian town of Kidal yesterday, one day before a second round of parliamentary elections.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the Malian Solidarity Bank, which was being guarded by Mali's army and the UN peacekeeping mission.

Some fighters linked to al-Qaeda are still holding out in the north nearly a year after the start of a French offensive aiming to drive them from the desert region.