Armed men shoot dead Red Cross employee in northern Mali

GAO, Mali – Officials say a Malian employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross has been killed.

Jean-Nicolas Marti, the organization's director in Mali, said Thursday that a colleague in the northern city of Gao was shot to death by armed men.

Residents told The Associated Press that two armed men on motorcycles shot the aid worker while he was in front of a store and then sped off.

The shooting takes place amid an increase in violence in Gao, where almost two weeks ago a French-Swiss woman was abducted. Authorities believe she is being held by jihadists, though there has been no official claim of responsibility for that attack.

Gao was under the control of jihadists for about a year before a French-led operation in 2013.