FADIMATA KONTAO ISLAMIST militants struck Mali's main military base, just outside the capital Bamako, in a complex attack involving car bombs, but the armed forces said they had repelled the assault and had the situation under control. Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have repeatedly raided bases across Mali during a decade-long insurgency concentrated in the north and centre but never so close to Bamako in the south. Heavy gunfire rang out for about an hour early on Friday at the Kati camp, about 15 km (10 miles) northwest of Bamako. A convoy carrying the leader of Mali's…