A UN peacekeeper has died of wounds sustained in an attack last week in Mali, raising the death toll in the assault to two, the United Nations said Monday.
Mali has been grappling with a political and security crisis since 2012 when separatist and jihadist rebellions broke out in the north, later spreading to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso.
The UN peacekeeping force in Mali, called MINUSMA, says a “complex attack” involving an improvised explosive device and direct fire targeted a patrol Friday near the town of Ber in the Timbuktu region. The toll that day was one dead and eight wounded.
The victims were from a contingent from neighboring Burkina Faso, the mission said.
“One of our colleagues died following his injuries. He passed away yesterday after undergoing medical treatment in Dakar, in Senegal,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Two of the wounded have now been released from the hospital, he added.
MINUSMA is a common target for jihadists as an international force and symbol of state authority with around 12,000 soldiers deployed in Mali.