Photo Credit: MINUSMA/Marco Dormino / UN Peacekeepers during operation in eastern Mali city of Ansongo  

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Three UN peacekeepers from Guinea  were killed Friday near west African nation Mali’s capital city Bamako. It was the second deadly attack on UN peacekeepers in Mali in the past 5 weeks. On Jan. 20, 2019, ten peacekeepers from Chad were killed in a suspected Islamist attack in northern Mali. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the UN Security Council condemned on Saturday the latest attack, which was  against vehicles of the peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), in which three “blue helmets” from Guinea were killed and at least another injured. According to the UN, Guinea is the eight largest contributor of troops to MINUSMA, with 869 women and men serving in it. 

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.

UN vows Mali Peacekeeping Mission to continue despite it being the most dangerous such mission in the world. 

Today, MINUSMA is the deadliest mission to serve in as a UN ‘blue helmet’ with more than 180 paying the ultimate sacrifice, since it was established in 2013. In 2019 alone, the number of fatalities stands at 15, according to the  UN. 

“The Secretary-General reiterates the determination of MINUSMA to continue implementing its mandate in support of the people and Government of Mali in their quest for peace.”

Guterres said through a spokesperson Friday Feb. 23, 2019. 

The terror threat in Mali continues unabated despite a massive deployment UN peacekeepers and  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.

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.”