UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned Thursday's "barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack" against a civilian bus in Mali, which killed 26 people from Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso.

The bus, which had crossed the border with Burkina Faso, ran over a landmine near Boni in central Mali on Thursday. Many of the dead and injured were Burkina Faso nationals.

In a press statement, the Security Council expressed deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso.

The Security Council expressed solidarity with Mali in its fight against terrorism and stressed the need to intensify regional and international efforts to combat violent extremism, which may be conducive to terrorism.

It underlined the need to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts to justice, and urged all states to cooperate actively with the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso as well as all other relevant authorities in this regard.

The Security Council commended the efforts of the region, including the development of a joint military force by the five Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, to address the transnational dimension of the terrorist threat in the Sahel region -- the northernmost part of sub-Saharan Africa, a vast belt stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea.

It reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and reaffirmed the need for all states to combat by all means threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.