Attacks kill two soldiers and two U.N. peacekeepers in Mali

At least two soldiers and two United Nations peacekeepers were killed in separate attacks in Mali on Monday, the army and the U.N. mission said.

Militants attacked Malian troops posted in the northern region of Gao early in the morning, the army said, three days after another clash left at least 27 soldiers dead and 32 wounded.

The army said it was pursuing the assailants and had killed nine so far.

Hours later, a convoy belonging to the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINUSMA hit an improvised explosive device north of the central city of Mopti, the mission said.

The blast killed two peacekeepers and wounded four others, it added.

Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency for a decade, with groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State expanding their reach in recent years despite the presence of French troops and about 13,000 U.N. peacekeepers deployed to stem the violence.

MINUSMA says more than 250 of its personnel have died since 2013, making it the deadliest of more than a dozen U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide.

France said last month that it would end its counter-terrorism mission in Mali after relations soured with the West African country’s ruling military junta.

Source: Reuters