Off the wire
• Roundup: West Africa has "unprecedented opportunities" for agricultural growth: report  • Dispute over entry ban not to damage Finland-Russia relations: Finnish president  • Eurozone industrial producer prices stable in May  • French stock market index down 0.98 pct on Thursday  • Banks in Albania not allowed to transfer money to Greece: central bank  • Measles leads to 1st U.S. death in 12 years  • 2nd LD Writethru: Comprehensive Iranian nuclear deal supposed to be reached: Chinese FM  • Entry ban of Russian representatives not act of aggression: Finnish FM  • Libya peace talks resume in Morocco  • Greek PM sees debt deal within 48 hours after Sunday referendum  
You are here: 　 Home

UN Security Council condemns terrorist attack on UN mission in Mali

Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Thursday condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attack a convoy of UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, which killed six peacekeepers and injured five others.

The peacekeepers were killed by militants in Mali's restive northern region when a UN convoy was ambushed on Thursday morning near the city of Timbuktu.

According to a press statement released by the council, the killed and injured peacekeepers are from Burkina Faso.

The identity of the attackers could not be confirmed at the moment.

"The members of the Security Council called on the Government of Mali to swiftly investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice and stressed that those responsible for the attack should be held accountable," said the statement.

The attack was one of the deadliest for the UN peacekeepers in Mali. More than 40 peacekeepers have been killed since MINUSMA was established in 2013, according to UN figures.

MINUSMA was created with the mandate to support the political process in Mali. On Monday, UN Security Council extended its mandate until June 30, 2016 with the tasks including to support the implementation of the peace accord signed between Malian government and armed groups in the country.

Since the end of April, hostilities have resumed in northern Mali between Tuareg rebels pro-government militias. The UN has been calling for immediate end of fighting and urging armed groups in the country to address long-term crisis under the peace agreement. Endite