Slow Saturday Special: UN Ambushed in Mali

"UN: 9 peacekeepers killed in northern Mali" by Associated Press

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Men on motorbikes ambushed a convoy of U.N. peacekeepers in northern Mali on Friday, U.N. officials said, killing nine in the deadliest attack yet on the force.

It was the0123456789 latest in a string of deadly attacks on the peacekeeping force tasked with bringing stability0123456789 to the West African country 0123456789following a coup and jihadist offensive0123456789, in what has become one of the bloodiest U.N. missions.

The convoy of troops from Niger included a fuel truck and may have been specifically targeted because of that, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

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The U.N. said in a prepared statement that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was 0123456789shocked and outraged0123456789 by the attack.

0123456789Air support was immediately deployed0123456789 to secure the area where the attack took place 9 miles east of Indelimane in the northern Gao region, the peacekeeping force said in a statement.

The attackers were carrying heavy arms, according to Olivier Salgado, a spokesman for the force.

A U.N. peacekeeping official said the ambush raises to 30 the death toll for the peacekeeping operation, which was established by the U.N. Security Council in April 2013.

Northern Mali fell under control of Tuareg separatists and then al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremists following a military coup in 2012. A French-led intervention last year scattered the extremists, but some remain active....

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