NEW YORK, 24 November, 2015 (UN News)): A civilian staff member of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali was killed today in an explosive device attack on a convoy, but the world Organization will not be deterred from its efforts to bring peace to the West African, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
The attack on the convoy of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) occurred on the Goundam-Timbuktu axis in the Timbuktu region in the north of the country.
“The Secretary-General wishes to reaffirm that such attacks will not alter the determination of the United Nations to support the Malian people and the peace process, including through its assistance to the ongoing implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali,” a statement attributable to his spokesman stressed.
“MINUSMA continues to strengthen measures aimed at countering explosive threats in Mali for the protection of United Nations personnel and Malian people alike,” it added, commending the Mission’s efforts to “bring lasting peace in Mali under such difficult conditions.”
Set up in 2013 to carry out security-related tasks and help to stabilize the country and implement a transitional roadmap following a coup and separatist and Islamist takeover of the country’s north, the Mission currently deploys more than 9,000 military personnel, some 1,180 police and an equal number of civilians on the ground.
