Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were killed early Friday when their convoy hit a landmine in Mali, the United Nations said.
The explosion happened near Douentza in the Mopti region, in central Mali, according to a brief statement from the UN.
Several other people were wounded in the blast, according to UN spokesperson Myriam Dessables.
Canadian peacekeepers provided medical evacuation assistance to the victims, Canadian Armed Forces spokesperson Daniel Le Bouthillier told Global News.
“No Canadian Armed Forces members were injured in the incident,” Le Bouthillier said in a statement.
Friday’s incident comes less than a week after al-Qaida-linked jihadists killed 10 UN peacekeepers and injured at least 25 others at a United Nations base near Aguelhoc, a village in northern Mali. All 10 of the fatalities were from Chad.
Global Affairs Canada has said no Canadians were involved in that incident, which occurred on Jan. 20. However, five Canadian helicopters were scrambled after the attack to provide medical assistance.
A total of 189 UN peacekeepers have now been killed in Mali since the mission began in 2013. The UN has stationed 15,000 peacekeepers in the region in an effort to repel several extremist groups linked with al-Qaida and the Islamic State.
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Friday’s attack occurred in the far north of Mali, near its border with Algeria. However, most of the attacks over the last year have occurred in the central and southern parts of the country.
Approximately 250 members of the Canadian Armed Forces are stationed in Mali at a base in the country’s south. Their one-year mission is to provide round-the-clock medical evacuation services to wounded soldiers in the country.
“Today’s events mark the seventh medevac Canadian peacekeepers have conducted since arriving in Mali last summer,” Le Bouthillier said.
The Canadian peacekeeping mission is slated to end in July.
—With files from Mercedes Stephenson, The Associated Press and Reuters
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