Four UN peacekeepers had to lose their life following a deadly attack against the peacekeepers serving for the UN's Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

According to the UN News, four Chadian soldiers were killed and 19 have been injured when an attack was launched against the mission’s camp in Aguelhok, located in the Kidal region in the northeast of the country. 

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack through his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in a statement. Dujarric said, “The Secretary-General recalls that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law and that sanctions can be applied against those responsible. He calls on the Malian authorities to spare no effort in identifying and promptly holding to account the perpetrators of this heinous attack.”

The incident is said to have occurred at 6:15 am local time on Friday. MINUSMA said in a statement, “Peacekeepers valiantly repelled a complex attack carried out by several heavily armed terrorists.”

The statement described the attack as “yet another attempt against the peace process and the implementation of the Agreement by enemies of peace.”

 

Both the UN mission and Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of UN Peacekeeping, offered their condolences to the Government of Chad, and the families of the fallen peacekeepers, and wished a speedy and complete recovery to the wounded blue helmets.

MINUSMA, officially the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, has been in the country since 2013, following a military coup and the occupation of the north by radical Islamists.