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News > Mali

28 Togolese Peacekeepers Injured in Central Mali Attack

  • Images of a convoy of United Nations military forces, 2021.

    Images of a convoy of United Nations military forces, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @webtrendnigeria

Published 12 February 2021
Opinion

The United Nations troops were attacked by an unidentified group, which used a suicide vehicle that exploded with its driver on board near their base.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on Thursday confirmed that 28 Togolese peacekeepers were injured in an attack targeting its temporary base in Kerena, Mali.

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The attack was carried out by unidentified armed men, MINUSMA's spokesperson Olivier Salgado said, adding that it was a vehicular suicide that exploded with its driver on board near the base.

The main objective of the presence of the temporary base was to contribute to reducing violence against the populations, restoring calm in the regions where community tensions were high, and neutralizing the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

At around 7 a.m. local time Wednesday, however, the MINUSMA base, located in Mali's central region of Mopti, was attacked.

The head of MINUSMA Mahamat Saleh Annadif strongly condemned the cowardly attack on the peacekeepers, adding that all measures were taken to ensure the wounded receive appropriate treatment.

In January this year, five peacekeepers lost their lives during the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali where terrorist threats persist since the coup in 2012. Last year, six peacekeepers were killed on mission.

The MINUSMA was deployed in 2013 to support political processes in Mali. During a failed coup in 2012, militias took control of Mali's north.

An UN-backed peace deal in 2015 between the government and various armed groups failed to stabilize the situation in the country's central and northern regions, with attacks multiplying in the past years.

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