Six UN peacekeepers killed in north Mali attack

Six United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five wounded in an attack on their convoy in north Mali near Timbuktu, the UN Mali mission said on Thursday.
The convoy was attacked in the morning about 45km south of Timbuktu while patrolling on the road between Goundam and Timbuktu, the mission said. The wounded are being evacuated and reinforcements are being sent to the attack site, including helicopters for air support, it said.
Two vehicles were also destroyed in the attack.
It was unclear who staged the attack but Tuareg camp residents in the area said they saw a jihadist flag on the attackers’ vehicles.
UN Mali envoy Mongi Hamdi denounced the attack.
“I strongly condemn this new terrorist attack on our peacekeepers. Those responsible for this heinous crime must be identified and brought to justice as soon as possible,” he said.
Northern Mali has been engulfed in conflict for years. A French-led military intervention launched in 2013 scattered the Islamic extremists that had taken the north, though the region remains insecure and in recent months violence has extended further south. Earlier this month, Mali’s main coalition of Tuareg separatist rebels signed a peace agreement with the government.