The UN denounces a new attack against a MINUSMA convoy in Mali

May 23. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The United Nations has denounced this Monday the “persistent threat” faced by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), after four ‘blue helmets’ have been injured because the convoy in which they were traveling collided against an explosive device.

The members of the peacekeeping forces suffered minor injuries and received immediate medical treatment, as explained by the spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, at a press conference.

The spokesman explained that minutes after the incident, “a search in the surroundings discovered a second improvised explosive device, which was successfully detonated”; while that same day, MINUSMA detonated another improvised explosive device in a different place.

Dujarric has pointed out that this incident “highlights the persistent threat that our colleagues in peacekeeping forces face every day when they try to carry out their work.”

Tensions in Mali have increased in recent months between the military junta established after the coups of August 2020 and May 2021 and the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP, according to its French acronym) — which integrates former Tuareg rebels and members of pro-government militias– amid increased insecurity due to attacks by jihadist groups.

Mali and the rest of the countries of the Sahel have experienced an upsurge in violence in recent years, both by groups linked to the branches of the terrorist organizations Al Qaeda and the Islamic State that operate in the region, as well as by inter-community groups. In addition, abuses by security forces have helped these groups to swell their ranks.