UN MINUSMA Peacekeeping operation in Africa / (credit: un.org)

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS – NEW  YORK –   UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged authorities in west African nation Mali to act swiftly to apprehend those responsible for two separate attacks on Thursday against peacekeepers serving with the UN MINUSMA Mission in the country. A bomb hit a U.N. vehicle in the Kidal region killing one Egyptian peacekeeper and seriously injuring another.  The second incident took place in Timbuktu, where at least one Burkinabe peacekeeper was wounded in an indirect fire attack against the Mission’s integrated camp.  The incidents  came just three days after 12 civilians and at least 11 Malian soldiers were killed in attacks in the centre of the country. 

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the two attacks that were perpetrated against the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The Secretary-General expresses  his deepest condolences to the people and Governments of Egypt and Mali. The Secretary-General recalls that attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. He calls on the Malian authorities to take urgent steps to apprehend and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice.”

-Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General

UN MINUSMA  Force Commander, Dennis Gyllensporre,  underlined the Mission’s determination to carry out its mandate: 

I am deeply saddened by the death of one of our brave peacekeepers yesterday in the vicinity of #Kidal. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, his wounded comrade as well as his brothers and sisters in arms. Our determination to pursue our missions remains unshakeable. https://t.co/9mR3feF8vh

— Dennis Gyllensporre (@Gyllensporre) October 16, 2020

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

Credit:  MINUSMA /  Tribute ceremony in N’Djamena for the 10 Chadian UN Peacekeepers who were killed on 20 January, 2019  in a terrorist attack in northern Mali.

Today, MINUSMA is the deadliest mission to serve in as a UN ‘blue helmet’ with nearly 200  paying the ultimate sacrifice, since it was established in 2013. In 2019 alone, the number of fatalities stands at 15, according to the  UN. 

Meanwhile, 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  25 French soldiers confirmed killed since the start of Operation Barkhane, which was launched more than four years ago to quell jihadist activity in the former French colony of Mali and in neighbouring countries.

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.”

Meanwhile,  12 MALIAN Soldiers Killed in Terrorist Attack In  MALI

Les Forces Armées Maliennes (FAMa) sont responsables de la défense de l’intégrité territoriale et la souveraineté du Mali. 

At least 12 Malian soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack in the central Mopti region of the west African nation,  Mali’s military reported Tuesday.  The attack took place in the early morning hours of October 13, leaving 9 soldiers dead and an unidentified number of wounded.  Reinforcements were dispatched to the  area where they came under a complex terrorist attack (IED EMBUSCADE) at the Parou bridge in the same locality on October 13 at approximately 8:30 a.m., with 3 dead, 10 injured FAMA, and several missing. The Malian military air force arrived in the area of ​​the bridge and destroyed two terrorist vehicles,  Mali’s military reported in a statement.   In addition, 12 civilians were killed in central Mali early Tuesday morning. The civilians were traveling in a minibus on their way to a weekly market in Bankass, a town in central Mali’s Mopti region, when the attack occurred.  The minibus was apparently following a military convoy sent to reinforce an army outpost which was attacked in the earlier Tuesday, when it fell into an ambush.