The two police officers belonged to the United Nations mission in Mali. Four others were injured, including one seriously.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
Two peacekeepers of the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), a woman of which, were killed on Friday December 16 in an attack on their patrol in Timbuktu (North), announced the mission on Twitter. Four other UN police officers were injured, including a seriously , according to a minusma press release.
“Deeply shocked by the murder this afternoon, in Timbuktu, by an unidentified armed individual, of two of our police officers, including a woman, while they were on patrol,” said on Twitter El-Ghassim Wane, the chief of minusma.
Furthermore, “the attackers in their flight crossed a patrol of the Malian armed forces (Fama). After the exchanges of fire, a attacker was killed. Fama side, there is a dead and a light injured person who has Leaving the hospital, “said France-Presse (AFP) Bakoun Kanté, Governor of Timbuktu, who assures that the situation is now under control.
A ceremony for the Festival du Vivre Ensemble was organized Friday in Timbuktu, at the Peace Monument, chaired by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mossa Ag Attaher. “We have made a brief opening ceremony and officials, including the Minister of Sports, withdrew,” said Kanté.
The minusma sent about thirty minutes after the attack “a rapid earthly reaction force on the scene,” a UN mission official in Timbuktu told AFP.
l ‘ UN asks for a “quick investigation”
The members of the UN Security Council “condemned in the most lively terms” this attack and call on the Malian authorities to conduct a “rapid investigation”, according to a joint statement released on Friday.
Mali has been prey to jihadist attacks and violence of all kinds since 2012. MINUSMA is, with Malian forces, one of the main targets of jihadists who aim for the foreign presence and the symbols of the State .
With around 12,000 soldiers deployed in Mali, it is the mission of the UN having undergone the most losses in the world in recent years. More than 180 of its members died in hostile acts.