UN peacekeeper dead, 2 civilians injured in Mali attack

A UN peacekeeper from Togo was killed and two civilians seriously wounded today when a mine exploded as a military convoy passed through central Mali.
More than 11,000 UN police and military are currently serving in Mali, attempting to guarantee security in lawless swathes of the vast Sahel nation.
An African military source working within the UN mission told AFP: "We have lost, among our injured, a Togolese peacekeeper. There are also some injured," the source said.
The source did not specify the number of peacekeepers wounded, but said they were quickly evacuated to receive medical attention after the attack in the central Mopti region.

A local official meanwhile told AFP two civilians who had been following the convoy were seriously injured.
"The attack took place not far from the town of Douentza. The civilians were following the UN mission's convoy," the source said, describing the pair's future as "uncertain".

France intervened in January 2013 to drive out Islamist fighters overrunning northern Mali and the UN mission was deployed a few months later, but large tracts of the country are beyond the control of domestic or foreign troops.
MINUSMA, as the mission is known, is the UN's deadliest active deployment, with more than 30 peacekeepers killed this year alone.

The attack took place the same day that Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan held talks with top officials in Bamako ahead of the deployment of 600 Canadian peacekeepers to Africa, and possibly to Mali.
The United Nations has expressed interest in having Canadian tactical helicopters deployed in the region once Dutch aircraft leave in January.
Further underscoring the fragility of Mali's security situation today, armed men ransacked an army base in the restive north, stealing weapons and vehicles as troops fled their positions.