On Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack on the UN peacekeeping forces in Mali, which killed 7 of their members.
This came at a press conference held by Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
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Dujarric said: “Guterres strongly condemns the attack today on a logistics convoy of the United Nations Multidimensional Mission.
This is to achieve stability in Mali (MINUSMA), which led to the killing of 7 members of the mission (from Togo) and the injury of 3 others.”
He added: “The convoy of the UN mission was heading from Douentza to Sevare in the Bandiagara region in the center of the country when it was hit by an improvised explosive device.”
He continued: “The Secretary-General calls on the authorities in Mali to arrest those involved and bring them to justice.”
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack until 17:50 GMT.
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It is noteworthy that Azawadian movements and armed groups took control of the northern Mali regions in 2012, and extended their influence over 3 main cities: Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao.
The intervention of the French forces with international support in January 2013 led to the expulsion of armed groups from the cities of Gao and Timbuktu, while Kidal remained under the control of the Azawad movements.
Despite the signing of a peace agreement in May and June 2015 between the central government in Bamako and the most prominent Azawad movements, violent incidents are still frequent.
