Separate strikes in Mali on Monday killed at least two troops and two UN peacekeepers, according to the army and the UN mission.

Militants attacked Malian troops stationed in the northern area of Gao early this morning, according to the army, three days after another conflict left at least 27 soldiers dead and 32 injured.

The army claimed it was on the trail of the assailants and has killed nine of them so far.

Hours later, a vehicle belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping operation MINUSMA was damaged by an improvised explosive device north of Mopti, according to the mission.

The blast killed two peacekeepers and wounded four others, it added.

Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency for a decade, with groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State expanding their reach in recent years despite the presence of French troops and about 13,000 U.N. peacekeepers deployed to stem the violence.

MINUSMA says more than 250 of its personnel have died since 2013, making it the deadliest of more than a dozen U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide.

France said last month that it would end its counter-terrorism mission in Mali after relations soured with the West African country’s ruling military junta.