Three UN peacekeepers killed in Mali blast
21 Feb 2023 09:12pm
In this file photo taken on July 24, 2019 Senegalese soldiers under the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali) dismount an armoured personnel carrier, patrolling in the streets of Gao, a day after suicide bombers in a vehicle painted with UN markings injured one French, several Estonian troops and two Malian civilians in an attack on an international peace-keeping base in Mali. Three United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five were seriously injured on February 21, 2023 when their convoy struck a roadside bomb in central Mali, the UN mission said. - AFP
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"A MINUSMA Force convoy hit an Improvised Explosive Device #IED today," it said in a tweet that gave a preliminary toll.
MINUSMA -- the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali -- was created in 2013 to help stabilise a state battered by jihadist insurgents.
Thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes during the course of the emergency.
Last year, Mali's traditional ally, France, withdrew its troops from the country following a row with the ruling junta, which has brought in Russian paramilitaries to support its beleaguered army.
With more than 13,500 military personnel and police, MINUSMA is one of the biggest but also deadliest UN peacekeeping missions, suffering a high toll especially to IEDs. - AFP
