Clashes between peacekeepers and protestors at a UN base in Mali have left at least two people dead and several injured, including two UN officers.
Protestors had gathered to voice their opposition to reports of a UN plan to create a buffer zone in the region around Gao, claiming it would favour separatist Tuareg militants.
Local radio journalist Aboubacrine Abouhayata and witness Attouyoube Maiga told AP news agency that UN officers fired live rounds of ammunition.
"Here in the morgue in Gao we have at least three dead protesters, some killed by gunshot wounds... There are also several serious injuries," a hospital official is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.
UN spokesman Olivier Salgado said protestors threw Molotov cocktails and rocks, with peacekeepers only retaliating by firing tear gas.
The 9,000 strong UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (Minusma) was deployed in Mali, after France intervened in 2013 to dislodge militants who had taken control of huge swathes of land in the north of the country.