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Mali helicopter crash: Two Dutch UN peacekeepers die | Mali helicopter crash: Two Dutch UN peacekeepers die |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Dutch UN helicopter has crashed near Gao in northern Mali, killing two crew members, the Dutch defence ministry has said. | A Dutch UN helicopter has crashed near Gao in northern Mali, killing two crew members, the Dutch defence ministry has said. |
A commander of the UN force in Mali told Associated Press the crew of the Apache had performed a forced landing, but he did not know why. | |
He added that the helicopter had not been attacked. | |
The aircraft is from the UN's Minusma mission, charged with peacekeeping operations in Mali. | |
Minusma has about 11,000 personnel on the ground in the country. | |
The mission took over security duties from France in 2013 after France had intervened to stop an Islamist insurgency a year earlier. | |
The Dutch defence ministry named the dead men as 30-year-old Capt Rene Zeetsen and 26-year-old 1st Lt Ernst Mollinger, adding that the families had been informed. | The Dutch defence ministry named the dead men as 30-year-old Capt Rene Zeetsen and 26-year-old 1st Lt Ernst Mollinger, adding that the families had been informed. |
Minusma has suffered regular attacks from militants: earlier this month, a rocket attack on a UN base in northern Mali killed three people. | Minusma has suffered regular attacks from militants: earlier this month, a rocket attack on a UN base in northern Mali killed three people. |