(Reuters/NAN)
No fewer than three civilians died on Tuesday in northern Mali when their vehicle hit a landmine, a military source said.
The source said that a second mine explosion also injured two UN peacekeepers who tried to the rescue the civilians.
Meanwhile, a statement by the UN mission in Mali had condemned the attack , noting that the incidents occurred in the vicinity of a UN base at Tessalit in the region of Kidal.
The explosions were the latest violence around Kidal, a stronghold of the separatist coordination of Azawad Movements, dominated by ethnic Tuaregs.
It would be recalled that in 2012, separatists seized northern Mali with support from militants linked to al Qaeda.
In spite of UN intervention, violence in the region had persisted, with attacks by militia groups and radical Islamists.
The government said it would commit 175 million dollars annually between 2016 and 2018 to support a peace agreement it signed in June with the separatists.
