Four civilians and a police officer were killed Sunday by suspected jihadists in southern Mali, a region that has previously been mostly spared from the country's Islamist unrest, a security official said. The unidentified men attacked a checkpoint near the town of Bougouni, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Mali's borders with Ivory Coast and Guinea between 3:30 am (0330 GMT) and 4:00 am, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. sd-lal/blb/kjl/yad