BAMAKO: Three soldiers were killed in central Mali on Thursday by a mine blast as they hunted for suspected militants, the army announced in a statement.
“In their pursuit of the terrorists, the FAMA (Malian armed forces) were victims of a mine explosion,” the army said. “The incident took place ... in the Bulkessy (Mopti) sector on the border with Burkina Faso.”
“The casualty toll is three dead and three wounded,” added the statement, without giving any further details.
On Dec. 21, the army in the large northwest African nation, mostly desert, announced the killing of five armed extremists and the death of a soldier when troops fought off an attack near Niono in the center.
In March and April 2012, militant groups linked to Al-Qaeda seized control of the arid north of Mali, including celebrated ancient cities such as Gao and Timbuktu, centers of trans-Saharan trade and learning.
The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013, but large tracts of the country are still not controlled by Malian or French forces, nor a UN peacekeeping mission.
These forces regularly come under attack despite the signature in mid-2015 of a peace pact intended to isolate armed extremists.
Since then, the attacks have spread southward in Mali and violence has also struck in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Faced with deteriorating regional security, the G-5 Sahel regional organization, which includes the three nations together with Chad and Mauritania, revived plans for a joint anti-militant force, initually launched in November 2015 with French support.
Mali mine blast leaves troops dead, injured
Mali mine blast leaves troops dead, injured
Trump says US will deal with Greenland ‘easy way’ or ‘hard way’
- Trump says controlling the mineral-rich island is crucial for US national security given the rising military activity of Russia and China in the Arctic
WASHINGTON, United States: US President Donald Trump on Friday again suggested the use of force to seize Greenland as he brushed aside Denmark’s sovereignty over the autonomous Arctic island.
“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” Trump said at a White House meeting with oil executives looking to benefit in Venezuela, where the United States last week overthrew the president.
“I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said when asked of Greenland.
Trump says controlling the mineral-rich island is crucial for US national security given the rising military activity of Russia and China in the Arctic.
“We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. That’s what they’re going to do if we don’t. So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way.”
Both countries have increased military activity in the Arctic region in recent years, but neither has laid any claim to the vast icy island.
Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland, where the United States already has a military base.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an invasion of Greenland would end “everything,” meaning NATO and the post-World War II security structure.
Trump made light of the concerns of Denmark, a steadfast US ally that joined the United States in the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“I’m a fan of Denmark, too, I have to tell you. And you know, they’ve been very nice to me,” Trump said.
“But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet next week with Denmark’s foreign minister and representatives from Greenland.
