UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations says unidentified gunmen have attacked two U.N. peacekeeping sites in Mali, killing one Malian soldier and one U.N. peacekeeper.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the U.N. camp in Douentza in the Mopti region of central Mali came under attack Monday morning. He said in addition to the two soldiers, two gunmen were killed when U.N. peacekeepers fired back.
Haq said the U.N. joins the peacekeeping mission's condemnation of the attack.
He said armed men launched an attack Monday afternoon against the U.N. peacekeeping mission's headquarters in Timbuktu city in northern Mali. He said the mission dispatched a quick reaction force and helicopters to the scene "and sporadic gunfire is still ongoing."
The peacekeeping mission in Mali is the deadliest of the U.N.'s 16 global peacekeeping operations.