Gunmen kill UN soldier, injure another in Bamako

A Bangladeshi soldier with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali has reportedly been killed and another one injured in a shooting attack by suspected militants in the capital city of Bamako.

“Armed men, that we have not yet identified, shot at two peacekeepers who were on board a UN vehicle on Monday night. One of them was killed and the other seriously wounded,” AFP quoted an unnamed security source as saying on Tuesday.

“We are seeking clarification and details. This has to be viewed as a terrorist act. The perpetrators are the enemies of peace,” the source said.

Another source from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) confirmed that the two UN soldiers were from Bangladesh.

The victims were moving from Bamako airport towards the southern part of the capital when the attackers opened fire on them from a car, he said.

The UN has worked to bring back stability to the African country over the past months.

On March 22, 2012, President Amadou Toumani Touré was toppled in a military coup. The coup leaders said the ouster of Touré was in response to the government’s failure to contain the Tuareg rebellion in the north, where the rebels are fighting to gain autonomy.

The Tuareg rebels took control of northern Mali, which they call Azawad, in January 2012. The country has witnessed months of turmoil ever since.