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UN mission remains alert after landmines in Mali injured two peacekeepers

Xinhua, April 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Mission in Mali ( MINUSMA) remain alert against landmines in order to protect civilians in the West African country after two blue helmets were injured by landmines in northern Mali, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Tuesday.

Two peacekeepers from MINUSMA were injured on Monday in the explosion of a mine while they were escorting a convoy around Kidal, in northern Mali, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.

"One of them is seriously injured and both were immediately evacuated," Dujarric said. "The Mission and the UN Mine Action Service remain committed to continue their work against mines in order to protect the civilian population in Mali."

Mali had witnessed a fighting between government forces and rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by the radical Islamists since early 2012. Thousands of UN peacekeepers have been deployed, but the vast northern desert zone remains tense.

In Kidal, a town in northern Mali, UN peacekeepers were injured respectively in May and August last year, when their vehicle hit a landmine. Endite