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Armed Group Attacks UN Peacekeepers in Mali, 1 Personnel Killed. PHOTO/Reuters
MALI – The attackers killed one personnel UN peacekeepers and seriously injured eight others on Friday (9/6/2023). The attack took place in the northern Timbuktu region Mali areas where extremists continue to operate.
“The peacekeepers were part of a security patrol that was targeted first with an improvised explosive device and then with live fire in the town of Ber,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“The UN joins with the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, in strongly condemning the attack,” Dujarric continued. He also said the peacekeeper killed on Friday was the ninth person to die in Mali this year.
“This tragic loss is a stark reminder of the risks that peacekeepers in Mali and elsewhere around the world face while working tirelessly to bring stability and peace to the people of Mali,” he said.
Mali has been ruled by a military junta since the 2020 coup against president-elect, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The country has faced destabilizing attacks by armed extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group since 2013.
In 2021, France and its European partners involved in the fight against extremists in northern Mali withdrew from the country after the junta brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group.
The United States warned Mali’s military government in April that it was “irresponsible” for the United Nations to continue deploying its more than 15,000 peacekeepers unless the west African nation ends restrictions, including operating surveillance drones, and makes a political commitment to peace and peace. March 2024 elections.
The warning comes as the UN Security Council considers three options presented by Secretary-General António Guterres for the future of the peacekeeping mission: increase its size, reduce its footprint, or withdraw troops and police and turn it into a political mission. His current mandate expires on June 30.
(esn)
