UN's Mali mission attacked

The UN said its Chadian peacekeeper was killed and the four others were wounded near the Malian town of Aguelhoc when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device early on Sunday.

About two hours later, a second UN vehicle was left with only minor damage when it triggered a roadside bomb outside the town of Kidal, where the UN's mission is based.

No immediate claims of responsibility were made.

Deadliest UN deployment

Mali has become the deadliest place for UN peacekeepers. Since the mission MINUSMA was deployed in 2013, fatalities among peacekeepers exceeded 100. This year alone, 28 soldiers have been killed.

Five Chadians were killed in May in an ambush near Kidal.

In that month, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) also claimed responsibility for an attack that killed a Chinese peacekeeper and three civilians.

Islamist groups, some with links to al Qaeda hijacked an ethnic Tuareg uprising in 2012 and held northern Mali until a French-led intervention in 2014.

In late June, the UN Security Council decided to send an additional 2,500 personnel to bring MINUSMA to a level of 15,200 troops and police.

A state of emergency has been extended several times by Mali's government in the wake of last November's attack in the capital Bamako when jihadists stormed a hotel, killing 20 people, mostly foreigners.

Mali has also been plagued by violence between Tuareg rebels and pro-government militia, prompting the UN to call recently on signatories to uphold a peace agreement reached last year.

ipj/bw (Reuters, AFP, AP)