Three UN peacekeepers forces killed in Mali

SANAA, Feb. 24 (YPA) – At least three soldiers of the UN peacekeeping forces in Mali were killed by gangsters while travelling overland from the capital Bamako to neighbouring Guinea, media sources have reported.

A security source in Mali said that the attack, which took place on Friday, was aimed at stealing, adding that the three victims were from Guinea, which contributes some 900 troops to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali, which consists of 15,000 troops.

The three were on vacation and were “assaulted by unknown gunmen in a taxi on the road leading to northwest of Bamako, killing them immediately, the mission said in a statement issued on Saturday.

The driver was injured, according to the mission’s statement.

The incident “was a robbery that derailed,” an official said.

The official confirmed the dead soldiers are belonging to “the UN peacekeeping forces were on leave for Guinea, and they were robbed by gangsters who shot at them.”

E.M