Bamako - Seven UN peacekeepers were wounded by a blast
that hit their vehicle near the airport in the northern Malian town of Kidal on
Friday, the latest in a string of attacks on foreign forces.
A witness said the troops involved were Senegalese and
the area to the east of the town had been cordoned off.
An investigation was underway to establish if the vehicle
hit a land mine or another kind of explosive device, the UN mission said.
Peacekeepers have deployed in the West African country
since mid-2013 but Islamists driven from its desert north two years ago by
French forces have stepped up ambushes and bomb attacks on UN and government
troops.
France has withdrawn soldiers troops from Mali to focus
on a broader, Sahel-wide security operation against militants.
Diplomats say insurgents, some of whom are linked to al-Qaeda's
regional wing, AQIM, have regrouped and appear to have received new training
and weapons.
Four of the soldiers on Friday were slightly wounded and
the three others suffered fractures, the UN said.
A total of 33 UN peacekeepers have died and 100 more have
been wounded in Mali.
Seven Malian soldiers were killed in a raid on a military
camp near the Mauritanian border and six UN peacekeepers from Niger were
wounded by a roadside bomb over the past week.
