TheCable

The United Nations confirmed on Thursday in Bamako that four Chadian peacekeepers were killed on Wednesday, when a suicide bomber slammed a car into the entrance of a UN base in northern Mali.

 Bert Koenders, Mission head in Mali, said the suicide bomber was also killed in the attack in Agelhoc ─ one of UN’s smallest bases in Mali ─ while six Chadian peacekeepers and four members of the Malian army were injured.

“Malian soldiers and even civilians have been sheltering in our base in Agelhoc. There are 290 Malian soldiers in there, they fled Kidal after fighting there on May 21,” he said.

Koenders condemned the attack as cowardly and heinous.

Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, also condemned the attack, saying that it would not diminish the resolve of the mission to support the Malian people in their efforts to achieve peace and stability.

On May 21, dozens of civilians and Malian soldiers took refuge there after escaping from Kidal, 100 kilometres to the south, following an unsuccessful attempt by the army to retake the town from rebels.

Since the launch in 2012 of international military efforts to oust Islamists and other militant groups from Mali, Chadian soldiers have paid the heaviest price.

More than 60 of them have died in operations by the UN mission and its African predecessor.

NAN