A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up at a Malian government military checkpoint 100 km (60 miles) north of the northern city of Gao on Friday, injuring one soldier, a Mali military officer said.

It would be the first reported suicide bombing since a French-led intervention swept Islamist rebels from their desert strongholds of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.

"A kamikaze on a motorbike just blew himself up at the Bourem checkpoint at 6:30 am (0630 GMT). One lightly wounded soldier from Gao," the officer told Reuters by text message.