UN Peacekeeper Killed, 8 Seriously Injured in Northern Mali Attack

UNITED NATIONS (AP) Attackers killed one U.N. peacekeeper and seriously injured eight others Friday in Malis northern Timbuktu region, an area where extremists continue to operate, the United Nations said.

The peacekeepers were part of a security patrol that was targeted first by an improvised explosive device and then by direct fire in the town of Ber, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The United Nations joins the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, in srongly condemning the attack, Dujarric said.

Mali has been ruled by a military junta since a 2020 coup against an elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. It has faced destabilizing attacks by armed extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group since 2013.