UN peacekeeper killed in attack on Mali military camp

ANKARA

A Liberian UN peacekeeper was killed and nine others injured in a mortar attack on a military camp in northern Mali, the UN mission in the country said in a statement on Thursday.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] at 1315 GMT, a mortar or rocket attack was launched against the MINUSMA camp in Timbuktu... Six shells landed there, according to preliminary reports. It resulted in the death of one Liberian blue helmet and wounded nine others,” the statement read.

It added that the wounded were immediately transported to Mali’s capital Bamako.

Several terror groups are active in northern Mali, where French, Malian and UN peacekeepers are conducting counterterrorism operations.

Tensions erupted in Mali in 2012 following a failed coup and a Tuareg rebellion that ultimately allowed al-Qaeda-linked militant groups to take over the northern half of the country.

In 2015, a peace deal was signed between the government and some insurgent groups.

Political and community disputes continue to fuel tensions in northern Mali, thus undermining the implementation of the peace agreement.

MINUSMA was deployed in Mali in July 2013.