APA – Bamako (Mali) – This incident comes at a time when the UN mission in Mali is increasingly under pressure from the jihadist insurgency.
An attack in the form of an improvised explosive device (IED) on Saturday morning, targeted MINUSMA peacekeepers about 30 kilometres north of the town of Douentza.
In addition to vehicles badly damaged by the blast, at least seven peacekeepers were injured, some seriously.
In a message posted on Twitter, the UN mission in Mali said that the peacekeepers injured in the attack were “receiving appropriate care,” without specifying their nationality.
However, MINUSMA peacekeepers operating in the area are from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.
This latest IED attack is the sixth of its kind to target MINUSMA in the centre of the country since the beginning of the year.
In April alone, three attacks were witnessed in the Douentza sector, in the Mopti region in the centre of the country.
The first took place on 11 April and left one person seriously injured.
The second happened on 18 April in Atamba, 75 km west of Douentza, injuring two people, while the third on 19 April 53 km north-east of Douentza, left no-one injured.
Since the beginning of the year, IED attacks have killed 39 people and injured 86 others.
A MINUSMA report published at the end of 2002 recorded 245 IED attacks.
Mines and improvised explosive devices caused at least 103 deaths in 2021 and 72 in 2022, according to the same document. These so-called “silent weapons” mainly affect the Malian army and MINUSMA. But a quarter of the victims are civilians, according to the report.
In 2022, MINUSMA have lost at least 25 peacekeepers to hostile acts.
Also in 2022, MINUSMA was the world’s deadliest peacekeeping mission for the ninth year in a row, with at least 14 peacekeepers killed out of 32 killed worldwide, including 28 soldiers and four police officers, including one woman, all killed in deliberate attacks.
Since its deployment to Mali in July 2013, MINUSMA has lost nearly 170 peacekeepers to hostile acts, while nearly 700 others have been injured.
This situation comes at a time when, in a few days’ time, a debate will begin on the renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate, which is due to take place at the end of June.
This will take place against a backdrop of tensions with the transitional authorities, which have significantly reduced the UN mission’s room for manoeuvre, particularly in its movements.
As a result of these tensions, many countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Egypt and Jordan have announced the withdrawal of their contingents.
The imminent withdrawal of these contingents is already seriously jeopardising the future of the mission.
Moreover, the presence of MINUSMA is dividing some Malian civil society actors, who are divided between supporting it and leaving it.
MD/ac/lb/as/APA