One of the main Islamist armed groups in northern Mali said Thursday it had sent fighters back into Gao, a city it controlled for nine months before French and Malian troops recaptured it last month. "Our fighters entered Gao on Wednesday," Abu Walid Sahraoui, a spokesman for the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) told AFP. Local military sources and an AFP correspondent reported heavy clashes pitting Malian soldiers against a group of around 40 jihadists in northern Mali's largest city on Thursday.

* Street battles erupt after rebel infiltration of key town * Bomb explodes in town used as French advance base (Adds French Defence Minister) By Joe Penney GAO, Mali, Feb 21 (Reuters) - French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao and a car bomb exploded in Kidal on Thursday, as fighting showed little sign of abating weeks before France plans to start withdrawing some forces.

Malian soldiers on Monday evacuated the main market in Gao over fears of an attack, after the northern city was shaken by three days of suicide bombings and guerrilla gunbattles claimed by Islamists. "We fear an attack, that is why we are evacuating the Gao market for security reasons," said a high-ranking officer. Vendors were packing up their merchandise and leaving the Washington Market, which is near the central police station that Islamist gunmen used as a base for a guerrilla attack on the city Sunday. sd-thm/jhb/txw

An explosion shook the largest city in northern Mali early Monday, hours after Islamist gunmen battled French and Malian troops following two straight days of suicide bombings. Malian troops told an AFP correspondent that the sound of the blast appeared to have come from the north of Gao, possibly from the checkpoint at the city's northern entrance, the target of the suicide attacks Friday and Saturday. Sunday's gunbattle launched by Islamist fighters on territory reclaimed by French-led forces was the first large-scale urban guerrilla assault of the conflict.