Olivier Salgado said today a rocket attack took place yesterday evening in Aguel'hoc, and a battalion of Chadian peacekeepers with the mission known as MINUSMA were out on patrol searching for the assailants.
Around noon, the peacekeepers exchanged fire with gunmen, and three of the Chadians were wounded and taken to Gao for treatment.
Security remains tenuous in the region, as al-Qaida-linked militants remain active even after a French-led military operation to oust them from power last year.