An improvised explosive device in northern Mali resulted in the deaths of two United Nations peacekeepers and severe injuries to five more, according to the UN peacekeeping operation.
According to Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the incident happened on Tuesday between the towns of Tessalit and Gao.
Since armed groups that established themselves in the country’s dry north ten years ago increased attacks and acquired control of territory, insecurity has increased throughout West Africa.
Recall that over 130 civilians were killed last month in the villages of Diallassagou, Diaweli, and Dessagou in the Mopti region of central Mali.
Mali has been battling insurgency and militants attacks over the years with about thousands of people dying and many displaced.
In August 2020 and May 2021, Mali, a poor and landlocked country in the Sahel, experienced military coups.
Since 2012, when separatist and Islamist insurgencies erupted in the north, the political crisis has been accompanied by a significant security crisis.
To combat the danger of insurgency that has expanded to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, the country is now ruled by a junta that has turned away from France and its allies and turned to Russia.
The violence has left thousands of civilians and soldiers dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Despite the presence of international soldiers and UN peacekeepers, the rebels, some of whom have ties to al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group, have gained strength. France has withdrew its troops from the area amid a dispute with Mali, its former colony, after years of deployment with no improvement in security.
The fighting has caused millions of people to flee the Sahel region south of the Sahara, killing hundreds of them.