The UN Security Council strongly condemned the "heinous" attack on a UN peacekeeping base in northern Mali on Sunday and warned that those responsible will be held accountable.
A Chadian peacekeeper and two children died when the attackers fired more than 30 rockets at the barracks in the northern city of Kidal in the early morning hours.
In a statement by its 15 members, the Security Council called on the Malian government to swiftly investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The top UN body called on all sides to refrain from actions that could jeopardize peace efforts and reiterated a threat to impose sanctions against those who resume hostilities in Mali.
And a week ago, the Malian government signed an agreement with some northern armed groups to hand over more authority to northern Mali in a bid to stabilize the region.
The Security Council and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had both urged the Tuaregs to agree to the deal, arguing that it represented an important opportunity for peace.
"The killing of UN peacekeepers and civilian Malians is intolerable and a breach of international humanitarian law," Ban said in a statement.
"This flagrant attempt to obstruct progress at a crucial moment in the Malian peace process is reprehensible."
Islamist militants seized control of northern Mali for more than nine months until a French-led military intervention in 2013 that partly drove them from the region.
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