Mali: Four United Nations peacekeepers killed in an attack

April 2, 2021 Elwin Mandowa

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Four United Nations peacekeepers have been killed by suspected jihadists in the north of the country.

The UN mission in Mali said several others were also wounded in the attack on a camp run by Chadian peacekeepers in Aguelhok.

Helicopters were dispatched to the scene to evacuate the wounded from the camp, according to the UN mission.

But the U.N. mission also said that the attackers suffered heavy losses with several of their members found dead at the site of the attack.

In a statement on Friday the UN said the peacekeepers “bravely pushed back” against a “complex attack carried out by several heavily-armed terrorists.”

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Meanwhile in a separate attack also on Friday, two Malian soldiers were killed by suspected Islamist militants and six others injured in the central town of Diafarabé.

Armed men reportedly approached the military base on motorbikes and opened gunfire.

Mali remains a fragile nation when it comes to security as it continues to struggle to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012.

Islamic extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a 2013 French-led military operation.

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However, the insurgents quickly regrouped in the desert and continue to launch frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies fighting them.