Armed separatist fighters fired upon UN peacekeeping vehicles near Timbuktu in northern Mali today, UN officials said, marking a further setback for the country's fragile peace process.
The peace negotiations are due to culminate next month with an agreement to be signed with the government.
The violence comes just a day after clashes erupted in the town of Menaka, prompting complaints that a pro-government militia there had violated the terms of the tentative cease-fire reaffirmed back in February.
The UN said it believed the fresh violence Tuesday had been carried out by elements of the CMA, a coalition of separatist Tuareg groups who have been active in the area.
"These two events are extremely worrying because they put the peace process in danger," said Mongi Hamdi, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. "At this hour, we are trying to establish the facts."
Algeria has mediated several rounds of peace talks between the Malian government and various Tuareg groups that have sought greater autonomy for the country's northern region, which they call Azawad.
Tuareg rebel groups seized control of northern Mali in early 2012 but then al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremists militants won control shortly afterward. Troops from former colonizer France later led a military offensive to dislodge the extremists.
The UN peacekeeping mission later followed and has come under growing attack in recent months.
