Two United Nations peacekeepers were killed and four injured in northern Mali on Monday by a highway bomb, the UN mission said on Twitter.

"Two MINUSMA #peacekeepers were killed today, 17 October, when their vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device during a #mine search and detection patrol in #Tessalit, Kidal region", MINUSMA wrote in the post.

It added that four others were "seriously injured".

MINUSMA -- the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali -- said that since the beginning of its mission in 2013, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have claimed the lives of 74 peacekeepers.

Mali has long struggled with a jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Mines and IEDs are among the jihadists' weapons of choice. They can explode on impact or be detonated remotely.

A report by MINUSMA found that IEDs and mines killed 103 people and injured 297 in Mali last year.