Publish Date: 21 February 2023 - 18:19

TEHRAN, Feb. 21 (MNA) – Three United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five were seriously injured on Tuesday when their convoy struck a roadside bomb in central Mali, the UN mission said.

"A MINUSMA Force convoy hit an Improvised Explosive Device #IED today," it said in a tweet that gave a preliminary toll, the AFP reported.

The mission gave no immediate word about the casualties' nationalities.

It is reported that five of the wounded are in critical condition. 

MINUSMA -- the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali -- was created in 2013.

With more than 13,500 military personnel and police, it is one of the biggest but also deadliest UN peacekeeping missions, suffering a high toll, especially to IEDs.

Some of the groups have links to al Qaeda and ISIL terrorist organizations.

At least 281 peacekeepers have been killed in Mali since the start of the mission in 2013, making it the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

MNA/PR