Seven United Nations peacekeepers have been killed in central Mali by an explosive device.
The soldiers of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MUNISMA) were killed on Wednesday by an “improvised explosive device” that exploded as their convoy passed by, the UN Mission in Mali announced.
“A first assessment showed seven peacekeepers dead and three seriously injured,” MUNISMA said in a statement, without specifying the nationality of the victims.
The convoy, which had left Douentza, was headed for the RN16 in the Bandiagara region, the statement said, adding that three other soldiers were seriously injured.
This incident comes a day after the death of a peacekeeper evacuated to Dakar on 22 November. He was injured with two other soldiers in an explosive device near Tessalit, in northern Mali.
CD/lb/abj/APA