Death toll of UN peacekeepers rises to 4 after bomb attack in northern Mali

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - The number of peacekeepers killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Mali rose to four on Tuesday, with two seriously injured, reported the UN mission in the West African nation, condemning the act.

This came a day after the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) announced that three Chadian troops were killed and three others critically injured in the Tessalit area in northern Mali in an explosion during as a convoy passed.

"Another soldier succumbed to his injuries on 18 October," the UN mission announced on Twitter.

According to MINUSMA, IEDs have killed 74 peacekeepers since 2013, when the mission began in the country plagued by terrorist attacks.

"IEDs are one of the most serious threats facing our colleagues," tweeted El-Ghassim Wane, special representative of the secretary-general and head of MINUSMA.

In a statement on Tuesday, UN Security Council members condemned the attack "in the strongest terms," expressing "their concern about the security situation in Mali and the transnational dimension of the terrorist threat in the Sahel region."

They also called on the transitional government of Mali "to promptly investigate the attack with the support of MINUSMA," as well as to "promote accountability for such acts by bringing the perpetrators to justice."