World Bulletin / News Desk

Malian officials said Friday two suspected fighters have been arrested after they planned to stage a suicide attack in the capital Bamako during the France-Africa summit earlier this month.

"In two separate operations in Bamako on Thursday, Malian special intelligence operatives arrested two rebels who were preparing to commit a large scale attack in Bamako against foreign targets," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The attack was planned for the France-Africa summit on January 13 and 14, which gathered some 30 African states and France to discuss the fight against extremists, the struggle to improve governance and the migrant crisis.

But stringent security measures forced the suspects to delay their plans, the official said. Another Malian security source confirmed the report.

Both suspects are Malian nationals from the country's unrest-wracked north, which fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and rebel groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.