UN peacekeepers wounded in Mali attack

BAMAKO — Fifteen UN peacekeepers, including several from Germany, were wounded in northern Mali on Friday in an attack on their camp involving a vehicle-borne explosive, the UN mission in Mali and the German military said.

The attack targeted a temporary base set up by the peacekeepers near the village of Ichagara in northern Gao region, where Islamist insurgents linked to Al-qaida and Islamic State are active.

The wounded were being evacuated, the UN mission said in a post on Twitter without giving further details.

Several German soldiers were among the wounded, a spokesman for the German military said.

The UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, has deployed over 13,000 soldiers to contain violence by armed groups in the north and centre of the West African nation.