Bamako, April 7, 2015 – Yesterday, Monday late afternoon, a MINUSMA vehicle hit a mine about 30 km from Kidal on the way towards Gao. The vehicle was escorting a convoy of contractors.

Two peacekeepers got injured in the explosion, of which one seriously. The 2 peacekeepers were immediately evacuated to Gao, to receive appropriate medical care.

MINUSMA strongly condemns these terrorist acts, aimed at paralyzing MINUSMA-operations in this part of Mali and effecting United Nations staff or innocent civilians. MINUSMA, in particular through the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), continues to identify, mark and clean-up Mali’s main mine areas in order to provide maximum protection to the population against these acts.