3 UN peacekeepers killed by suspected bandits in Mali

Three UN peacekeepers in Mali have been killed by suspected bandits while travelling on leave along the road from the capital Bamako to neighbouring Guinea, sources said.

Friday's attack was a robbery, a Malian security source told AFP, adding that the three victims were from Guinea, which contributes some 900 soldiers to the 15,000-strong UN stabilisation mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

At around 10:00 pm Friday, the three peacekeepers, "who were going on leave in a rental vehicle, were attacked by unidentified armed men on the road to Siby", 44 kilometres (27 miles) southwest of Bamako, MINUSMA said in a statement Saturday.

"Three of them were killed and another wounded."

A civilian who was driving the vehicle was also wounded, according to MINUSMA, which said it was "shocked by the cowardly assassination of the three Blue Helmets".

According to an elected official of Siby, it was "a robbery that went wrong".