The United Nations has confirmed the death of two Nigerian peacekeeper in Mali.
It was reported that the deceased were killed while four others were injured during a peace patrol in the town of Timbuktu in northern Mali on Friday
According to the United Nations Security Council, a member of Mali’s security forces was also slain in the incident.
Also, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, one of the peacekeepers slain was a woman.
The incident has been condemned by the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Mali has been in upheaval since a mutinous army toppled the government in 2012. The resulting power vacuum spawned a jihadist insurgency and a French-led war that removed the jihadists from power in 2013.
Insurgents are still active in Mali, and extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State have migrated from the desert north to more populated central Mali since 2015, fueling enmity and violence amongst ethnic groups in the region.
Since Mali’s government permitted Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to operate on its territory, tensions between Mali, its African neighbors, and the West have risen.
