Two UN peacekeepers were killed and “several others” wounded in two attacks in central and northern Mali on Saturday, the United Nations mission in the country said.

In a statement, the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission said Blue Helmets had “repelled a complex attack” at dawn at its base in Ber, in the Timbuktu region, launched from several trucks armed with “rocket launchers, machine guns and other explosives”. The second attack in Konna, in the central Mopti region, involved an improvised explosive device.

“According to an initial toll, two peacekeepers were killed and several others were wounded,” it said.