The United Nations secretary-general has condemned an attack on a U.N. convoy in Mali that killed a peacekeeper from Egypt.

A statement by the spokesman for Antonio Guterres says four other peacekeepers were wounded in the Saturday morning attack between Douentza and Boni in the central Mopti region.

The statement says peacekeepers responded by killing one attacker and detaining eight others.

The peacekeeping mission in the West African nation is the deadliest active U.N. mission in the world, with 195 deaths as of the end of March.

The mission established in 2013 is under threat from extremist groups in Mali's vast, arid north that have begun moving south into more populated areas.