A UN spokesman told AFP that eight members of the Blue Helmets peacekeeping force in Mali (MINUSMA) were injured in a mine explosion in the Timbuktu region, where jihadist groups operate. He explained that the wounded were from the Burkina Faso MINUSMA battalion.

For his part, MINUSMA spokesman Olivier Salgado said in a statement on social media that “a Blue Helmets security patrol hit a mine/IED in the vicinity of Bir, about fifty kilometers from Timbuktu. He stated that eight peacekeepers had been evacuated.

Established in 2013 to support the political process in Mali, with some 13,000 troops, MINUSMA is the world’s largest-lost UN peacekeeping mission. Negotiations are under way to extend his mandate. In total, 175 Blue Helmets were killed during the fighting in Mali.