UN peacekeeper killed in Mali mine blast: UN

• A UN peacekeeper was killed by a mine while on patrol in restive northern Mali.
• The latest death comes amid tense negotiations on the renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate.
• A total of 175 of its peacekeepers have died in hostile acts since their arrival in Mali.

A UN peacekeeper was killed by a mine while on patrol in restive northern Mali on Sunday Said the leader of the UN’s MINUSMA Mali mission, El Ghassim Wane,

According to a MINUSMA officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity to AFP, the peacekeeper was part of the Guinean force in MINUSMA. “He was wounded at first and died of his injuries at our Kidal hospital,” he added.

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The latest death comes amid tense negotiations on the renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate.

A total of 175 of its peacekeepers have died in hostile acts.

“Terrible news that adds to the long list of our colleagues who lost their lives during their service in Mali,” Wane wrote on Twitter.

Attristé par la mort ce matin, à #Kidal, d’1 de nos #casquesbleus qui a sauté sur 1 #mine alors qu’il participait à 1 patrouille. Terrible nouvelle qui vient allonger la longue liste de nos collègues ayant perdu la vie dans le cours de leur service au #Mali. #ServiceandSacrifice

— El-Ghassim Wane (@elghassimw) June 19, 2022

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are one of the jihadists’ weapons of choice against MINUSMA as well as Malian forces.

They also regularly kill civilians.

Mali, a poor and landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, underwent military coups in August 2020 and May 2021.

The political crisis has gone hand in hand with a serious security crisis since 2012 and the outbreak of separatist and jihadist insurgencies in the north.

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The country is now run by a junta that has abandoned France and its allies in favour of Russia in an attempt to contain the terrorist danger that has expanded to Burkina Faso and Niger.

Thousands of civilians and troops have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the bloodshed.