GAO, Mali — A Malian military spokesman says soldiers arrested two men who tried to blow themselves up on the outskirts of Gao.

Modibo Traore told The Associated Press that the pair were wearing belts of explosives and were stopped at a checkpoint on a road leading into town Saturday at about 7 a.m.

The arrests come just a day after another young man detonated an explosives belt in Gao, killing only himself.

The attacks have raised fears of a looming insurgency by the radical extremists who fled into the surrounding desert two weeks ago after a French-led military mission forced them to flee the cities of northern Mali.