Attackers opened fire on a temporary United Nations base in central Mali yesterday in an assault that wounded 28 peacekeepers from Togo.

United Nation’s Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the United Nations condemned the attack in Mali, which remains the deadliest of the U.N.’s 12 far-flung Peacekeeping Missions. He added that just so far this year, five peacekeepers have been killed and 46 injured by hostile acts in the violence-plagued West African nation.

Mali has been in turmoil since a 2012 uprising prompted mutinous soldiers to overthrow the President. The power vacuum that resulted ultimately led to an Islamic insurgency and a French-led war that ousted the jihadists from power in 2013.

Mr Dujarric said in New York that the more than 12,500 U.N. peacekeepers and nearly 1,700 international police in Mali work in a very challenging and hostile environment.

The Spokesman added that for several months now, peacekeepers have been carrying out numerous security operations in central Mali to help reduce violence against civilians and to restore calm in areas where community tensions are reported. They are also working to reduce the threat of improvised explosive devices.