TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A United Nations (UN) aid worker from Chad was killed and several others injured in Mali after their vehicle hit a land mine in Mali’s north, said a military source in the country.
“We lost one person when our vehicle hit a land mine near Aguelhoc. Several others were injured,” said a Chadian soldier from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) peacekeeping mission to AFP.
A military source based in northern Malian city of Gao has accused hardline groups of employing land mine as a combat tactic. “They have taken control of our stock of landmines, and they are familiar with the routes often used by MINUSMA vehicles,” added the source.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the land mine attacks, which according to his spokesperson, has claimed the lives of four other peacekeeping soldiers.
“The attacks will not affect UN’s commitment to support the people of Mali in their efforts to establish peace,” affirmed a spokesperson of the UN.
Four UN peacekeeping soldiers from Chad was killed on September 2, when their truck exploded in the desert near Kidal. The three jihadist groups—Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine, and Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO)—have managed to take control of some desert areas in the West African state in 2012, including the major cities of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu.
The rebels were forced from the cities to their hideouts in the desert because of a military intervention by France in January 2013 but sporadic attacks still continue.
ANTARA
