Peacekeeper dies, 4 seriously hurt in Mali attack: UN

Dakar, Senegal (AFP):

One peacekeeper died and four others were seriously injured in an attack in northern Mali on Friday, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country said.

MINUSMA said on Twitter that a “complex attack” involving an improvised explosive device and direct fire targeted a patrol near the town of Ber.

The nationalities of the victims were not specified.

Mali has been grappling with a political and security crisis since 2012 when rebel groups emerged against excessive foreign intervention in the region. The fighting that broke out in the north later spread to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS claim responsibility for many attacks, but self-proclaimed defence groups and bandits also contribute to the violence in the region.

MINUSMA is a common target for militants as an international force and symbol of state authority with around 12,000 soldiers deployed in Mali.

Since its creation in 2013, 186 of its members have died in hostile circumstances.

Anger at the government’s failure to beat back the insurgents fuelled a coup in 2020 that brought the country’s military to power.

However, large swathes of the vast country remain outside state control and attacks on national and international security forces continue.