United Nations (UN) officials announced Friday that men on motorbikes ambushed a UN peacekeepers' convoy in Northern Mali. The assault was considered as the deadliest attack on the force killing 9 Peace Corps.
The ambush on the UN peacekeepers that resulted to 9 deaths in Northern Mali was the latest in the series of lethal assaults on the peacekeeping force requested to ensure stability to the West African nation after a revolt and jihadist bellicose. It has become one of the bloodiest UN missions.
According to UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the cavalcade of troops from Niger included a fuel truck and may have been specifically beleaguered because of that. He stated, "Our understanding is that they were targeted and they were targeting a convoy that included a fuel truck, knowing full well that a fuel truck, I think, would cause an even greater number of casualties, which I think adds to the horrendous nature of the crime."
As the UN statement, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon was stunned and infuriated by the violence that killed 9 peacekeepers in Northern Mali. Through the Peacekeeping Force statement, air support was instantaneously positioned to secure the area where the attack occurred 15 kilometers or 9 miles east of Indelimane in the northern Gao region.
As stated by the force spokesperson Olivier Salgado, the assailants were carrying heavy weaponries and that they are known as MINUSMA. He also added that since the beginning of the operation, the assault is the deadliest that MINUSMA has orchestrated and the toll is pretty severe.
On the initial reports on the ambush attack that killed 9 UN peacekeepers in Northern Mali, it was thought that troops were injured in the attack. But a UN peacekeeping official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to publicly speak on the incident, said that there were no reported injuries.
For the peacekeeping mission which was established by the UN Security Council in April 2013, an official said that the ambush in Northern Mali that left 9 casualties raises the death toll to 30. Just a month ago, a roadside bomb killed five peacekeepers and injured several other Chadian groups near the beleaguered Kidal City. Five other peacekeepers were also killed by mines last month.
Following a military overthrow in 2012, Northern Mali fell on a tight rein of Tuareg separatists and then al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremists. Last year, a French-led intercession strewn the insurgents, but few stay active and there have been continued vehemence eruptions.
UN troops are currently attempting to stabilize the north and peace parleys have instigated between the Malian government and Tuaregs. In late June, the force comprised of 11,200 military staffs and 1,440 international constabularies. UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told reporters that the crisis has become excruciating as French troops have drawn down.
The ambush attack that occurred in Northern Mali that killed 9 UN peacekeepers was dubbed as the most lethal and goriest assault that happened to the pacification force of the United Nations.
