Credit / Souleymane Ag Anara, AFP | United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

By Gary Raynaldo /  DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Ten U.N. peacekeepers from Chad were killed in a suspected Islamist attack in northern Mali early Sunday.   The U.N. confirmed that ten ‘blue helmets’ from the world body’s Stabilization Mission In Mali (MINUSMA) were killed following a complex terrorist attack against the mission’s camp in Aguelhok, in the Kidal region, northern Mali.  U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres, strongly condemned the deadly attack which killed ten peacekeepers from Chad and injured at least 25 others.

“MINUSMA forces responded robustly and a number of assailants were killed,” a statement issued by his Spokesperson read. The Secretary-General issued his “heartfelt condolences to the Government of Chad, and the families and loved ones of the deceased”, and wished a swift recovery to the injured, paying tribute to the dedication and courage of the men and women serving in MINUSMA “at great personal risk and sacrifice.

Mission In West Africa Nation Mali The Most Dangerous In The World For UN Peacekeepers 

Credit: U.N. MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko / Guinean contingent of MINUSMA which is based in Kidal in the extreme north of Mali.

The terror threat in Mali continues unabated despite a massive deployment of French troops tasked with halting jihadist’s attacks. There have been 12 French soldiers confirmed killed since the start of Operation Barkhane, which was launched more than three years ago to quell jihadist activity in the former French colony of Mali and in neighbouring countries. At the same time, the more than 11,000-strong mission in the West Africa nation Mali has become the most dangerous in the world for UN peacekeepers, which are routinely attacked by Islamic militants, according to the UN. Last year,  5 UN peacekeepers were killed.

Credit / UN.ORG / MINUSMA/Marco Dormino / Senegalese UNPOL Officers patrol the streets of Gao, Mali. Mali is considered one of the world’s most dangerous UN missions, with more than 125 blue helmets killed in the past six years.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established by Security Council resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013 to support political processes in that country and carry out a number of security-related tasks. In 2012, Islamist radicals linked to al-Qaeda hijacked an uprising by ethnic Tuareg people and went on to seize cities across northern Mali, holding on for nearly a year until they were forced out by a French military intervention, according to the Washington Post. When the 11,000 U.N. troops arrived in 2013, they were meant to protect a fledgling peace deal and train the Malian army. But Islamist extremists regrouped across the region. It did not take long before the militants started targeting peacekeepers, whom they dubbed “Crusader occupation forces.”

Source: European Parliamentary Research Service Blog. The brown strip is the region known as the Sahel, which runs east and west through large parts ofSenegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan,and into the Horn of Africa. The Sahel is the heart of France’s military counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane, which France claims is aimed at tackling the jihadist threat in that region.