Guterres condemns attack on UN convoy in Mali

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday strongly condemned the attack on a UN mission logistics convoy in Mali that killed one Jordan peacekeeper and injured three others.

“The secretary-general strongly condemns this attack and sends his deepest condolences to the family of the peacekeeper who died and to the people and government of Jordan,” said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Guterres.

“He wishes a prompt recovery to those injured.”

Dujarric said the convoy was on the attack for about an hour, under direct fire from suspected members of a terrorist group using small arms and rocket launchers.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) reported that the attack near the town of Kidal in the northern part of the country was the fifth incident in the Kidal region this week.

“It is a tragic reminder of the complexity of the mandate of the UN Mission and of the threats peacekeepers face on a daily basis.”

El Ghassim Wane, the special representative of the secretary-general in Mali, in a statement, said in spite of the difficulties, MINUSMA remained determined to support the people and the government of Mali in their quest for peace and security.

Landlocked Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, is on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert in West Africa and has fallen victim to terrorist attacks and inter-community violence killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands of others since 2012.