This crime, committed against UN personnel as they carried out their mandate, will not diminish the resolve of the UN to support the Malian people...United Nations (ANTARA News) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday strongly condemned the killing of a UN peacekeeper in Mali, saying this crime "will not diminish the resolve of the UN to support the Malian people in their efforts to bring lasting peace and stability to their country."
"The secretary-general strongly condemns todays improvised explosive device (IED) explosion, 30 km west of Timbuktu in Mali, that killed one UN peacekeeper from Burkina Faso and injured six other blue helmets," said a statement issued here by Bans spokesman.
The UN peacekeeper was killed and six others injured in Mali earlier Monday when their vehicle struck a land mine in the north of the West African country, reports said.
"This crime, committed against UN personnel as they carried out their mandate, will not diminish the resolve of the UN to support the Malian people in their efforts to bring lasting peace and stability to their country as mandated by the Security Council in resolution 2164 (2014)," the statement said.
The secretary-general extended his deepest condolences to the family of the victim and the government and people of Burkina Faso, said the statement. "He wishes a speedy and full recovery to the injured."
The Monday attack is the second in this month on the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), according to Xinhua.
On June 11, a MINUSMA camp in Aguelhok came under a car bomb attack, which killed four United Nations peacekeepers from Chad and injured six other blue helmets.
On Dec. 14, 2013, two UN peacekeepers from Senegal were killed in a car bomb blast in the northeast Malian town of Kidal, a stronghold of separatist Tuareg rebels.
Mali had witnessed a military coup, renewed fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by radical Islamists since early 2012.
The West African country is now in the process of restoring democracy with the help of the United Nations and African regional bodies, including the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
On April 25, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution unanimously to approve a 12,600-strong MINUSMA to take over from the African-led mission in Mali on July 1 and authorized the blue helmets "to use all necessary means" to carry out security-related stabilization tasks, protect civilians, UN staff and cultural artifacts, and facilitate humanitarian aid.
MINUSMAs core task is to support the political process in Mali, in close coordination with the African Union and the ECOWAS, said the resolution.
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Editor: Ella Syafputri
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