UN Security Council warns Mali attack could be war crime

The United Nations Security Council has condemned a rocket attack that killed two UN peacekeepers and a contractor in northeast Mali, warning it could be a war crime.
In a unanimous declaration, the council's 15 member countries asked the Malian government to "swiftly investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice and stressed that those responsible for the attack should be held accountable."
"The members of the Security Council underlined that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law," a statement added yesterday.
An "outraged" UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.

Another 20 people were injured, four of them seriously. Ban said they were peacekeepers and civilian personnel.
The Council, like Ban, stressed its "full support" for the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, and the French troops that support it.
Ansar Dine extremists claimed the pre-dawn attack on the camp in Kidal, a week after a deadly siege at a Bamako hotel shocked the country.
The contractor killed in the attack was from Burkina Faso, according to the Security Council.