UN peacekeeper kills two comrades in northern Mali
A Chadian peacekeeping soldier with the United Nations (UN) has shot dead two colleagues and wounded another in a shooting attack in northern Mali, the world body says.
According to Radhia Achouri, the spokeswoman for the UN mission in Mali, the shooting incident occurred on Saturday night at around 1900 GMT in the camp for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) located near the town of Tessalit, in the country’s northern Kidal region.
Achouri said the assailant has been arrested and his motive is being investigated.
In a similar incident in February, a Chadian soldier in the camp killed his commander and an army doctor in a row over living conditions.
Reports say 2,000 Chadian soldiers of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) are at the forefront of a French-led military intervention launched in January 2013 to repel the militants who had seized vast stretches of northern Mali following a coup back then.
In recent years, dozens of Chadian troops have deserted their posts over pay and living conditions, complaining that they had not received any salary for months.
According to reports, 29 members of MINUSMA were killed last year and more than 80 were wounded.
Mali has been witnessing violence linked to militant activity in its northern regions since 2012. The area remains vulnerable to attacks despite the military intervention led by France.
Last June, Tuareg separatists, who have launched a number of uprisings since the 1960s, signed a peace deal with the Malian government. The peace agreement, brokered by Algeria, raised hopes for an end to years of unrest in the country; however, its implementation has proven challenging.
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