A United Nations peacekeeper has succumbed to injuries sustained in an attack in northern Mali on Monday, bringing the death toll to four, the UN mission in Mali said on Tuesday.

The UN had previously said three peacekeepers were killed and three others seriously injured when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the northern region of Kidal.

Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have been waging an insurgency in northern Mali for the last decade.

The peacekeepers were on a mine search and detection patrol in the northern commune of Tessalit, in the Kidal region, when they were hit, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. 

(Reuters/NAN)