Eight U.N. peacekeepers killed in attack in northern Mali

Eight U.N. peacekeepers were killed and several were wounded while repelling an attack by armed assailants near the village of Aguelhok in northern Mali early on Sunday, the West African nation's U.N. mission said. The identity of the attackers was not immediately clear.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Mahamat Saleh Annadif said the attack demanded "a robust, swift and concerted response." (Reporting by Souleymane Ag Anara Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by John Stonestreet)