BBC News with John Jason.The Malian army backed by French forces has repelled an attack by Islamist militants in the northern city of Timbuktu.___________________________________________________________________________________________.Tomma Fessy reports from Bamako.What happened is that a group of Jihadists managed to infiltrate the town over night. A long fire fight lasted hours overnight between the Jihad fighters and the Malian army. It\'s only when the French intervenes on the ground and by the air according to the residents there that the battle was taken to an end this afternoon. A Malian officer I spoke to over the phone told me that he was able to confirm that death of at least 8 Jihad fighters. And he told me that one Malian soldier was also killed in the fierce fighting this afternoon, and four others wounded.