The UN peacekeeping mission to the Senegalese military reported on Tuesday that three Senegalese soldiers were killed and five badly injured when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device in central Mali.
From its inception in the country’s desert north after a coup in 2012, Mali’s Islamic insurgency has expanded across West Africa. There have been thousands of deaths and millions of refugees from the Sahel.
According to MINUSMA, certain groups are linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda. On Tuesday, the catastrophe occurred near Songobia, a hamlet 29 kilometers southwest of Bandiagara in Mali’s Mopti region.
The Senegalese Army confirmed that the fatalities were UN mission personnel.
Since 2013, a minimum of 168 peacemakers have died. Hence, making Mali the most bloody UN peacekeeping mission in the world.
“This is a further indication of the difficulty of our work environment. In addition to the sacrifices the international community has made for Mali’s peace, “El-Ghassim Wane, the head of MINUSMA, said.
