Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on attack against United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Timbuktu, Mali: The Secretary-General condemns the attack on the MINUSMA and French operation Barkhane’s camps in Timbuktu on 14 April, during which one peacekeeper from Burkina Faso was killed, and seven peacekeepers, seven French… […]

Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on attack against U... In a tweet, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali announced, “One blue helmet was killed in gunfire exchanges with the assailants, a dozen wounded.”

MINUSMA had earlier “confirmed a major and complex attack on the camp at Timbuktu this afternoon (mortars + exchanges of fire + suicide attack vehicle)”. The Malian government said in addition that 10 French soldiers had been wounded, but the French mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix deplored the assault on Twitter, vowing: “Our determination to support peace in Mali remains unshakeable.”

French military spokesman Patrik Steiger said the attackers had “failed in their objective of causing the maximum damage possible”. One of the vehicles exploded, the ministry said, while the other, bearing the UN symbol, was stopped. Attacks against UN peacekeepers and government forces are common in Mali, a former French colony which also has a French military presence.
Militants disguised as United Nations troops attack two military bases near Timbuktu, Mali, using rockets and two car bombs. At least one soldier at the bases, used by France and the UN, is killed and more than twelve others are wounded.