(Bamako) Six Malian civilians and two Egyptian peacekeepers from the UN mission in Mali were killed Thursday and Friday in the explosion of two separate improvised devices in the center of the country, we learned from local sources and United Nations.
Updated yesterday at 10:18 p.m.
A cart returning from the market hit a mine near Waya on Thursday, a military official and two local officials said on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity for their safety, given the strong jihadist presence in the area.
Five civilians were killed on Thursday and a sixth succumbed to his injuries on Friday, according to the same sources.
On Friday, two Minusma soldiers were killed and a third injured by the explosion of another artisanal device near Douentza (center), on the axis leading to Timbuktu (north), said the spokesman of the Olivier Salgado mission on social networks.
The soldiers were part of the Egyptian contingent of Minusma, said a security official.
The UN Security Council “condemned in the strongest terms” this “attack” in a statement. Its members urged the authorities to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this act, which “may constitute a war crime under international jurisdiction”.
These are the second and third blue helmets killed in three days. A Jordanian soldier died in an attack with small arms and rocket launchers against the convoy in which he was on Wednesday in Kidal (north).
With more than 12,000 soldiers deployed in this country plunged into turmoil since the outbreak of jihadist and separatist insurgencies in 2012, Minusma is the most dangerous UN mission in the world. Since its creation in 2013, 174 of its peacekeepers have died in hostile acts.
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are the weapon of choice for jihadists against Minusma as well as Malian forces. They also regularly kill many civilians.
Seven Togolese peacekeepers in a logistics convoy were killed by the explosion of such a device in December 2021 between Douentza and Sévaré.
“Extreme dedication” of the Blue Helmets
On Friday, the peacekeepers were in an escort of a dozen UN vehicles accompanying a convoy of civilian trucks carrying fuel, Salgado said.
A mine exploded as the convoy passed, Mr. Salgado reported. Such convoys can stretch for miles.
This type of mine can jump on contact with a wheel or be operated remotely.
“A tough week, very tough for us. We can never say enough about the difficulty of our task and the extreme dedication of our peacekeepers, ”tweeted the head of Minusma El-Ghassim Wane.
This is the sixth attack against a UN convoy since May 22, said in New York Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The latter “condemns this new attack”, he said.
“Despite these difficult circumstances […]our colleagues continue their work in accordance with their mandate” issued by the Security Council, he said, citing the participation of Minusma in the recent restoration of two bridges destroyed by attacks in the same region.
Central Mali is one of the main centers of violence bloodying the Sahel. Starting in the north, this violence spread to the center as well as to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. They killed thousands of civilians and combatants and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Two reports made public this week, one from the UN Secretary General, the other from the human rights division of Minusma, are alarmed by an intensification of violence in the center and north of country.