Three United Nations peacekeepers in Mali were killed and six others wounded in an attack on Wednesday, January 13, by unidentified armed elements, the UN mission in the country has said. The three peacekeepers who lost their lives were from Côte d’Ivoire. The UN Mission reported that during a security operation, a peacekeepers convoy struck improvised explosive devices before being the target of fire by unidentified armed men, about 20 kilometers north of the town of Bambara-Maoudé, on the Douentza-Tombouctou axis, in the vast Tombouctou region. A robust response by the peacekeepers forced the attackers to flee, and the wounded personnel were evacuated by helicopter, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said in a news release on Wednesday. MINUSMA immediately organised adequate medical evacuations by helicopter. The attack against MINUSMA peacekeepers took place the same day as another attack on the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), in which a Rwandan peacekeeper was killed. Meanwhile, just as he did regarding the attacks in the Central African Republic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the attack in Mali and called on Malian authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. In a statement issued by his spokesperson on Wednesday, the UN chief emphasised that “attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime.” He urged the Malian authorities “to spare no efforts in identifying and promptly bringing to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack.” Guterres also reaffirmed the solidarity of the United Nations with the people and Government of Mali. MINUSMA was established in 2013, after terrorist groups took control of major towns in the country’s north the year before. Attacks against civilians and peacekeepers continue, and MINUSMA remains the most dangerous UN operation in the world. As of December 2020, it suffered 231 fatalities among its civilian and uniformed personnel, of which 134 were the result of malicious acts. An additional 358 personnel sustained serious injuries. Last August, five Malian soldiers died and five more were wounded after terrorists attacked an army outpost. Mali has suffered jihadist violence and ethnic rivalries since 2012, when Islamist militants took over the north of the country. The crisis has since spread and affected the centre of the Sahel country and also impacts neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger.
