Mortar attack on UN base in Mali kills at least three

A mortar attack on a United Nations base in Kidal in northern Mali early Saturday killed at least three people, including two U.N. peacekeepers and a contractor, said the mission spokesman.

A mortar attack on a United Nations base in Kidal in northern Mali early Saturday killed at least three people, including two U.N. peacekeepers and a contractor, said the mission spokesman.

The attack also injured 20 people, four of whom are in serious condition, said Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the U.N. mission in Mali.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack in the country's restless north but insurgents are is suspected. The attack comes just eight days after gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the capital city of Bamako in southern Mali, killing 20 people.

Northern Mali has been unstable since 2012, when it fell to Tuareg separatists and armed groups following a military coup. In 2013, armed fighters were pushed out of the country's northern cities and towns by the French, but they continue to carry out attacks on U.N. peacekeepers.

"I want to reiterate that these attacks will not impede the determination of the United Nations to support the Malian people in the peace process," said Mongi Hamdi, the head of the U.N. mission and the special representative for the secretary-general in Mali. "I express my solidarity and salute the brave men and women serving (the U.N. mission) throughout the country for their efforts to bringing lasting peace to Mali in these difficult conditions."

A security source in northern Mali who wished to remain anonymous said the Kidal camp had received a warning two days before the attack from an unnamed armed group.

Malian authorities said they've arrested two men over the Nov. 20 attack at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako that killed 20 people. 

Three organizations — Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, its splinter group Al-Mourabitoun and Massina Liberation Front — claimed responsibility for that hotel attack that killed Russian and Chinese nationals as well as an American, among others.

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Security analysts say the groups could be collaborating.

Germany has said it is willing to send up to 650 soldiers to bolster the U.N. force which has yet to reach its full strength of 12,680 men.

Other West African states are also battling violent armed factions. Boko Haram, the leading such group in the region, has this year extended its attacks from Nigeria to neighboring states of Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

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