Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists attacked a United Nations peacekeeping base in Aguelhoc in northern Mali’s Kidal region, killing at least eight peacekeepers, the UN mission in Mali said Sunday.
“The current toll is eight blue helmets killed and several injured. The peacekeepers managed to neutralize some attackers, and a prosecution was initiated against those who fled,”said Myriam Dessables, spokesperson for UN mission in Mali.
Many others were injured at the base that houses peacekeepers from Chad.
Residents confirmed the Sunday morning assault saying that attackers came on motorcycles and in cars.
‘Robust, swift and concerted response’
The peacekeeping mission in Mali, which includes up to 250 Canadian flight crew, medics and support personnel, is one of the UN’s deadliest. No members of the Canadian Armed Forces were involved, a Canadian Defence spokesperson said.
Mali is under threat from a number of extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization, and attacks have moved from the north to central Mali.
The mission’s chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif demanded “a robust, swift and concerted response.”
French forces intervened in Mali in 2013 to drive back fighters who had hijacked a Tuareg uprising a year earlier, and some 4,000 French troops remain there. The UN Security Council then deployed peacekeepers, which have been targets of a guerrilla campaign.