Six UN peacekeepers were killed and five wounded in an attack on their convoy in northern Mali, the UN said today.
All of the victims were from Burkina Faso.
The mission in Mali is one of the deadliest for the U.N., with 42 peacekeepers killed and 166 wounded since the mission was established in April 2013. UN chief Ban Ki-moon quickly condemned the latest violence.
The convoy was attacked in the morning about 45 kilometers south of Timbuktu while patrolling on the road between Goundam and Timbuktu, the mission said. Reinforcements were being sent to the attack site, including helicopters for air support, it said.
It was unclear who staged the attack, but Tuareg camp residents in the area said they saw a jihadist flag on the attackers' vehicles.
The UN's Mali envoy, Mongi Hamdi, denounced the attack, which also destroyed two vehicles.
"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 who had taken the north, though the region remains insecure. 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.
The commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Danish Maj Gen Michael Lollesgaard, told the Security Council earlier this month that his force is not geared to operate in an environment where troops face attacks from hostile jihadist groups and others.
