UN says 'terrorist attacks' killed 4 at UN projects in Mali

Four people have been killed in two attacks on UN projects in Mali, the United Nations peacekeeping mission said Wednesday.

The spokesman for the mission said the attack on Tuesday night killed one UN peacekeeper and gravely wounded three others at the mission's camp in the city of Gao. It said more than 10 peacekeepers were wounded.

China's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the dead peacekeeper and four of the wounded were Chinese.

• What we know about the conflict in Mali

The UN said a separate attack shortly afterward on a contractor for the UN's mine-defusing agency in another part of the city killed twoMaliansecurity guards and a French expert with the company.

The spokesman for UN Secretary-General BanKi-moondescribed the assaults as "terrorist attacks" and said 12 peacekeepers with the mission were killed in May alone.

Islamic extremists have been attacking international peacekeepers andMaliansoldiers working to stabilize the north three years after a French-led military campaign ousted thejihadistsfrom power.

In a separate attack on Tuesday, unidentified gunmen killed three Burkina Faso policemen at their station inIntagomnear the border with Mali, Burkina Faso's security minister said.

The gunmen made off with a number of weapons from the police station, said SimonCompaore.

Two weeks ago, gunmen described asjihadistsby Burkina Faso's government attacked a police station near the border with Mali and wounded two policemen. One remains in critical condition.