UN chief slams deadly attacks on peacekeepers in Mali

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday condemned a deadly attack on United Nations peacekeepers in Mali earlier in the day, stressing "the urgent need to bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice".

"The secretary-general is outraged by the deadly attack against a camp of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Kidal that claimed the lives of two UN peacekeepers and one civilian contractor," said a statement issued here by Ban`s spokesman.

Twenty peacekeepers and civilian personnel were injured, including four seriously, the statement noted. 

Earlier on Saturday, the UN Security Council, in a separate statement, "condemned in the strongest terms" the attack and called on "the government of Mali to swiftly investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice and stressed that those responsible for the attack should be held accountable", Xinhua news agency reported.