3 UN peacekeepers killed by roadside bomb in Mali
October 17, 2022
Three UN peacekeepers were killed on Monday by a highway bomb in Mali, according to the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA.
The bomb, which went off in the northeastern Kidal region, also injured four peacekeepers.
"This is obviously the latest incident in what is already a very challenging environment for UN peacekeeping," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
"This year already, 12 U.N. peacekeepers were killed in Mali in hostile acts."
What is the UN's mission in Mali?
The UN mission currently has around 12,000 military personnel deployed in Mali.
MINUSMA said that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have killed 74 peacekeepers since 2013, when the mission began.
A report by MINUSMA said that IEDs and mines killed 103 people and injured 297 in Mali last year.
Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency in its north since 2012. The conflict has since spread to neighboring countries in the Sahel region.
Late last month, Malian interim Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga accused Paris of having stabbed Mali "in the back" following the withdrawal of French forces. In July, Bamako expelled a MINUSMA spokesman over the UN's position on a spat between Mali and the Ivory Coast.
sdi/wmr (AFP, Reuters)