BAMAKO: A car bomb in northern Mali has wounded 15 UN peacekeepers, the United Nations said on Friday, in the latest attack in the war-torn Sahel state.
The UN said on Twitter that an evacuation was under way after a car bomb struck a temporary base near Tarkint, in the lawless north of the country. It didn’t provide further details.
However, a member of the German parliament’s defense committee, who requested anonymity, told AFP that all the wounded were German. Twelve were seriously injured, the MP said.
About 13,000 troops from several nations are deployed in the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission across the vast semi-arid country.
Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in 2012 and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.
Despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops, the conflict has engulfed the center of the country and spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
A security official, who declined to be identified, told AFP that the forward operating base attacked on Friday was only set up the previous day, after a land mine damaged a UN vehicle in the area.
The peacekeepers set up the temporary base in order to remove the damaged vehicle, the security official said.
On Monday, six French soldiers and four civilians were wounded when a car bomb detonated near a French armored car in central Mali.
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Car bomb wounds 15 UN peacekeepers in north Mali
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Car bomb wounds 15 UN peacekeepers in north Mali
- UN said on Twitter that an evacuation was under way after a car bomb struck a temporary base near Tarkint
- All the wounded were German, German official told AFP
US strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat kills two in Pacific
- President Donald Trump’s administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September
- International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings
WASHINGTON: The US military said it killed two alleged drug traffickers in a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific Friday, while the Coast Guard was searching for a third person who survived.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that included a clip of a multi-engined boat being smashed by an explosion.
Three people were visible in the footage prior to the strike, and SOUTHCOM said it “immediately” notified the US Coast Guard to look for the one who survived.
President Donald Trump’s administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, insisting it is effectively at war with alleged “narco-terrorists” operating out of Venezuela.
But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.
International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
The latest strike was the first carried out since late last year, and is also the first since US forces seized leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a lighting raid on Caracas in early January, bringing him and his wife to the United States to stand trial.
Also on Friday, the United States announced that its top officer General Dan Caine will host military leaders from 34 countries on February 11 in Washington “to build shared understanding of common security priorities and strengthen regional cooperation.”
“Participating defense leaders will explore the importance of strong partnerships, continued cooperation, and united efforts to counter criminal and terrorist organizations, as well as external actors undermining regional security and stability,” Caine’s office said in a statement.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that included a clip of a multi-engined boat being smashed by an explosion.
Three people were visible in the footage prior to the strike, and SOUTHCOM said it “immediately” notified the US Coast Guard to look for the one who survived.
President Donald Trump’s administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, insisting it is effectively at war with alleged “narco-terrorists” operating out of Venezuela.
But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.
International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
The latest strike was the first carried out since late last year, and is also the first since US forces seized leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a lighting raid on Caracas in early January, bringing him and his wife to the United States to stand trial.
Also on Friday, the United States announced that its top officer General Dan Caine will host military leaders from 34 countries on February 11 in Washington “to build shared understanding of common security priorities and strengthen regional cooperation.”
“Participating defense leaders will explore the importance of strong partnerships, continued cooperation, and united efforts to counter criminal and terrorist organizations, as well as external actors undermining regional security and stability,” Caine’s office said in a statement.
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