"Our camp at Kidal was attacked by terrorists early Friday morning. We fought back but two peacekeepers were killed and 30 others injured," a source from the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping mission told AFP.
A Guinean member of the UN force told AFP the dead soldiers were from his country's contingent.
The attack came a week after at least four suspected jihadists and a Malian soldier were killed in an attack on a UN military camp at Timbuktu.
The sprawling north of the country continues to be beset by violence having fallen under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.
The Islamists sidelined the Tuareg to take sole control and although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013 extremist groups continue to threaten.
Large swathes of Mali remain lawless, despite a June peace deal between the former Tuareg rebels and rival pro-government armed groups.
