Chinese peacekeeper's body brought home from Mali

CHANGCHUN -- The body of Chinese UN peacekeeping soldier Shen Liangliang, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Mali last month, arrived in northeast China's Changchun City on Thursday afternoon.

Around 3 p.m. Beijing time, a Chinese air force plane carrying Shen's body arrived at Longjia Airport in Changchun, Jilin Province, where Shen served in the army for 11 years.

The plane took off on Wednesday local time from Bamako, capital of Mali. It was sent by China's Central Military Commission to bring Shen's body home.

The 29-year-old sergeant first class was killed in a terrorist attack on the night of May 31 in the northern Malian town of Gao, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at a United Nations camp.

Another five Chinese peacekeepers were injured.