At least one United Nations peacekeeper has been killed in an attack on two bases in Mali, also leaving many others injured.
Militants disguised as UN peacekeepers – in the distinctive blue helmets and driving a vehicle marked with the UN logo – struck two bases near the airport in Timbuktu.
A government report stated that more than a dozen peacekeepers including French soldiers were wounded.
In a statement, the security ministry said the attack involved dozens of rockets fired by militants “wearing blue helmets”. Two vehicles were also packed with explosives.
One of the vehicles exploded, the ministry said, while the other, bearing the UN symbol, was stopped.
The ministry said that while five people were seriously injured, the fighting had ended and the situation was under control.
Attacks against UN peacekeepers and government forces are common in the West African country.
The UN mission has been deployed in Mali since a 2013 Tuareg separatist uprising. It has more than 11,000 troops and 1,741 police, and is considered one of the UN’s most dangerous missions.
Before Saturday’s rocket and car bomb attack, 162 UN personnel had been killed in the five years since the mission began.
This year alone, seven peacekeepers have been killed already.
