Eight UN peacekeepers were killed and several people injured while repelling an attack by armed militants on a village in northern Mali, AFP reported.
"According to a new toll, still provisional, at least eight peacekeepers have been killed," a source close to the MINUSMA force said.
Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the UN envoy for Mali, condemned what he called a "vile and criminal" attack.
"Peacekeepers of the MINUSMA force at Aguelhok fought off a sophisticated attack by assailants who arrived on several armed vehicles," he said in a statement.