January 13, local time, three Ivorian peacekeepers of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali (UNMINURMA) were killed in an attack in central Mali.
UNAMMA issued a statement on the 13th that morning, while a convoy of the Mission was driving on a road near the city of Timbuktu in central Mali, a military vehicle crashed into an improvised explosive device, and gunmen subsequently opened fire on the vehicle, killing three Ivorian soldiers and injuring six other peacekeepers.
The statement said: “The tough counterattack of the peacekeeping force forced the cowardly attackers to flee.”
Since March 2012, central and northern Mali have been under the sphere of influence of armed insurgents.
So far, thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, and deadly improvised explosive device attacks are common.
The mandate of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali is the most dangerous peacekeeping operation of the United Nations.
Since its establishment in 2013, more than 200 peacekeepers have died in the line of duty in this West African country.
