Malians went to the polls on Sunday in the second round of a parliamentary vote that marks a return to democracy. But turnout was low and elections were overshadowed by the suicide bombing a day earlier, in which two UN peacekeepers died.
The polls mark the troubled west African nation's first steps to recovery after it was upended by a military coup in March last year, finalising a process begun with the election of its first post-conflict president in August. But turnout on Sunday was low with some polling stations reporting participation as low as 15 percent. Though there were no reports of serious incidents on election day, voting took place amid an upsurge in violence by al Qaeda-linked rebels who stalk the vast northern desert, launching periodic strikes targeting French and African troops tasked with providing security for the election alongside the Malian army.
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