two members of the UN mission killed in an attack

Published on : 16/12/2022 – 21:36

An unidentified armed assailant on Friday shot and killed two police officers who are members of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali while they were on patrol near the city of Timbuktu, the chief said. of the Minusma.

Two police officers from the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma) including a woman, were killed on Friday, December 16, in an attack on their patrol in Timbuktu, in the north of the country, the mission announced on Twitter.

A patrol of @UNPOL was attacked this 16/12 at #Timbuktu ????????. Two of our police officers, including a woman, lost their lives and 4 others were injured, 1 of them seriously. Strong condemnation of this act. Press release on the circumstances of the attack to follow. pic.twitter.com/H5OHF3gvfX

— MINUSMA (@UN_MINUSMA) December 16, 2022

“Deeply shocked by the murder this followingnoon, in Timbuktu, by an unidentified armed individual, of two of our police officers, including a woman, while they were on patrol,” El-Ghassim Wane said on Twitter. head of Minusma.

Four other peacekeepers were injured, one seriously, according to the mission and the head of Minusma.

The UN, the main target of the jihadists

In addition, “the attackers in their flight crossed a patrol of the Malian armed forces (Fama). After the exchange of fire, an assailant was killed. On the Fama side, there is one dead and one slightly injured who left the hospital”, told AFP Bakoun Kanté, governor of Timbuktu, who assures that the situation is now under control.

A ceremony for the Festival of Living Together was organized Friday in Timbuktu, at the monument of Peace, chaired by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mossa Ag Attaher. “We had a brief opening ceremony and the officials, including the sports minister, retired,” Bakoun Kanté said.

The Minusma sent regarding 30 minutes following the attack “a land rapid reaction force to the scene”, a UN mission official in Timbuktu told AFP.

Mali is in the grip of jihadist attacks and violence of all kinds since 2012. The Minusma is, with the Malian forces, one of the main targets of the jihadists who target the foreign presence and the symbols of the State.

Minusma, with around 12,000 soldiers deployed in Mali, is the UN mission that has suffered the most losses in the world in recent years. More than 180 of its members died in hostile acts.

With AFP