Officials in Mali have confirmed that two United Nations peacekeepers have been killed in a car bomb blast in the northeastern troubled town of Kidal over the weekend.
A statement from the Malian government said militants attacked a bank guarded by the peacekeepers, amid setting fire to a UN armored vehicle that was parked nearby. The bank was identified as Banque malienne de solidarite.
Local reporters say a lot of people were injured and a dozen more feared dead as the bank building collapsed and rescue workers are still working to save possible survivors.
The soldiers killed were said to be Senegalese and UN officials say they would inform their home country about their death.
Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon and the Security Council has strongly condemned the attack and called for total resistance against such attacks by militants.
“The secretary-general condemns in the strongest terms the bombing attack at the Banque malienne de solidarite in Kidal, taking the lives of two United Nations peacekeepers and injuring at least seven other peacekeepers and four Malian National Guards’’.
“All those responsible for this criminal act must be brought to justice” the secretary-general encourages all Malians to reject violence and support the peace process, including through their participation in Sunday’s second round of legislative elections’’, a statement from Mr. Ban’s office said.
Mr. Ban also expressed his condolences to the government and people of Senegal at this tragic loss of their compatriots serving the international community for the cause for peace.
“The Security Council reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed,” the security council also said in a statement.
There are 12,600-strong UN peacekeeping forces in Mali after the country experienced series of political, religious and ethnic crisis prompting France to intervene early this year.
But the country is however in a 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.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
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