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Mali: UN SG Strongly Condemns Attack on Minusma

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, strongly condemned the attack which targeted the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on Friday in Timbuktu.

Two Blue Helmets including a woman were killed and four others were injured in this attack against their patrol in Timbuktu.

In a statement released by his spokesman, Guterres stressed that attacks targeting UN peacekeepers “may constitute war crimes” under international law.

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He called on the Malian authorities to โ€œspare no effort to quickly identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of these heinous attacksโ€ while reiterating the continued support and solidarity of the United Nations to the people of Mali.

In a statement, the Security Council, for its part, condemned this attack โ€œin the strongest termsโ€ and paid tribute to โ€œall peacekeepers who risk their livesโ€.

Members of the UN executive body have called on the Malian authorities to โ€œquickly investigateโ€ the attack with the support of MINUSMA and to promote accountability by bringing the perpetrators to justice.

A MINUSMA report stopped on August 31 counted 245 attacks in 2021 and 134 since January 1, 2022. According to this count, these attacks left 103 dead in 2021 and 72 in the first eight months of 2022, mostly soldiers but also civilians. With some 13,000 soldiers, MINUSMA, created in 2013, is the most bereaved UN peacekeeping mission in the world. More than 180 of its members died in hostile acts.

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