Militants armed with rocket-launchers killed at least six civilians Tuesday in an attack in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, the government said.

Militants armed with rocket-launchers killed at least six civilians Tuesday in an attack in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, the government said, in the latest violence to hit the restive country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but security sources told AFP that gunmen were behind the incident, which the government slammed as a "terrorist attack".

A government statement said a convoy of civilian vehicles guarded by security forces came under attack around 7:30 am (0730 GMT) on Tuesday around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Gao, the biggest city in northern Mali.

"The terrorist attack with rocket-launchers caused the death of six civilians and wounded two others including a soldier," the statement published Tuesday evening said.

A security source told AFP the attack began when one of the vehicles hit a mine laid by the militants.

Two other civilian vehicles arrived and were damaged before the gunmen came out from their hiding place to fire on the civilians, the source added.

Three lorries employed on behalf of MINUSMA, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, arrived at the scene and were set on fire by the Islamist fighters, the security source added.

A UN mission source said "more than six" people had died.

Seven people, including one fighter, were killed Friday in two separate border region attacks blamed on jihadists in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, security and government sources said.