Attack in Mali: 4 peacekeepers were killed

Flag of Mali. Flag of Mali. Picture by Sven Loeffler on iStock.

14 January 2021

On Wednesday 13 January 2021, four  blue helmets in Mali were killed and five others wounded in an attack by unidentified armed actors.

On 13 January 2021, a convoy of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers serving in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)  was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) and subsequently attacked by unidentified gunmen. Four peacekeepers died and five were wounded in the attack, which took place about 20 km north of Bambara-Maoudé, on the Douentza-Timbuktu axis in the Timbuktu region. The peacekeepers were able to repel the attack, forcing the attackers to flee. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the incident and called on the Malian authorities to bring the perpetrators  to justice. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, stressed that attacks against UN peacekeepers were to be considered a war crime. Therefore, he urged the Malian authorities to work together to bring justice to this attack.

This attack on MINUSMA peacekeepers coincided with an attack on the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), in which one peacekeeper was killed. Since the establishment of MINUSMA in 2013, the security situation in Mali has improved due to the joint efforts of the Mission, national security forces and international partners. However, terrorist attacks continue and MINUSMA remains the most dangerous UN operation.

 

To learn more, please read:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1082062

https://minusma.unmissions.org/en/timbuktu-region-blue-helmets-repel-attackers-during-complex-attack-douentza-timbuktu-axis

https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2021-01-13/statement-attributable-the-spokesperson-for-the-secretary-general-mali%C2%A0scroll-down-for-french

 

Author: Carla Pintor

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