Mali: Gunmen Kill 9 U.N. Peacekeepers

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/world/africa/mali-gunmen-kill-9-un-peacekeepers.html

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Gunmen on motorbikes ambushed a convoy of United Nations peacekeepers in northern Mali on Friday, United Nations officials said, killing nine in the deadliest attack yet on the force. The peacekeepers, who were from Niger, were part of an operation aimed at restoring stability in Mali. The peacekeeping force said in a statement that air support was immediately deployed to secure the area where the attack took place, nine miles east of Indelimane in the northern Gao region. Thirty peacekeepers have now been killed in Mali since the operation was established by the United Nations Security Council in April 2013. Northern Mali fell under the control of Tuareg separatists and Islamic extremists with links to Al Qaeda after a military coup in 2012. A French-led intervention last year scattered the extremists, but some remain active and there have been continued bursts of violence. Peace talks have begun between the Malian government and the Tuaregs. In June, the force consisted of 11,200 military personnel and 1,440 international police officers. But as French troops have drawn down, the situation has become “intolerable,” according to the United Nations peacekeeping chief, Hervé Ladsous.