• Malian Red Cross says van was attacked in the Kayes region of western Mali.
• Driver and a worker from the Netherlands Red Cross died.
• Witnesses said armed men on motorcycles opened fire on the vehicle.

The Malian Red Cross announced in a statement that two Red Cross workers were killed when their van was attacked in the Kayes region of western Mali on Wednesday.

A driver and a worker from the Netherlands Red Cross died after armed men attacked their vehicle, which carried the Malian Red Cross emblem, the statement said, citing eyewitnesses.

“The Malian Red Cross condemns in the strongest terms this incident, which undermines the humanitarian mission to vulnerable populations,” it said.

Read more: UN peacekeeper killed in Mali ‘terrorist’ attack

Witnesses said armed men on motorcycles opened fire on the vehicle. Two other Red Cross employees were also inside.

Nouhoum Maiga, secretary general of the Malian Red Cross, told AFP the men were likely robbers rather than jihadists.

“It is not the Red Cross as such that was targeted,” he said, adding that the organization has previously experienced robberies and carjacking’s, but no recent killings.

He said the attackers took the vehicle and equipment, before later abandoning the vehicle.

Mali has since 2012 been wracked by a jihadist insurgency by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State group. Vast swathes of the country are in thrall to myriad rebel groups and militias. The country also suffers from high crime rates.

The Kayes region of Senegal, which borders Burkina Faso and Niger, is considered to be less violent than the country’s centre, north, or so-called “three-border zone” with Burkina Faso and Niger.

Read more: Russia stepping up disinformation in Mali: US