Twenty U.N. peacekeepers injured in central Mali attack

[February 10, 2021]    BAMAKO (Reuters) - Twenty United Nations peacekeepers were injured, including several seriously, in central Mali on Wednesday when their base came under fire, a U.N. mission spokesman said.

The base near the town of Douentza in was attacked around 0700 GMT, a spokesman for the MINUSMA mission, Olivier Salgado, told Reuters.

He did not say who was responsible. Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic States regularly attack U.N. peacekeepers and Malian soldiers in the area.

"The MINUSMA chief firmly condemns the attack and has ordered that all measures be taken to treat the wounded," Salgado said.

Deployed since 2013, the U.N. currently has over 14,000 peacekeepers in Mali.

(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Bate Felix)

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