22 UN peacekeepers injured when convoy leaving rebel area hit improvised explosive devices, UN says

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says 22 U.N. peacekeepers in a convoy withdrawing from a rebel stronghold in northern Mali were injured when vehicles hit improvised explosive devices on two occasions on Saturday. There have now been six incidents since the peacekeepers left their base in Kidal on Oct. 31 for the estimated 350 kilometer (220-mile) trip to Gao, injuring a total of at least 39 peacekeepers, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Eight peacekeepers were injured by improvised explosive devices last Wednesday and seven early Friday, he said, and at least two peacekeepers were injured in two earlier IED attacks. In June, Mali’s military junta ordered the nearly 15,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force to leave after a decade.