BAMAKO, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-eight peacekeepers were killed and 165 wounded in Mali in 2021, according to the United Nations.
During a video conference here on Thursday, El-Ghassim Wane, head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, said that "50 percent of all incidents" behind these deaths and injuries were caused by improvised explosive devices.
According to Wane's newly-updated figures, the UN mission this year carried out 13,000 patrols and 100 operations to protect civilians.
"I have just come out of a memorial service of eight peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty," Wane said.
Wane's noted a "worrying increase" in incidents at the end of 2021 and the "resurgence of attacks" targeting the Mali mission.
On Dec. 8, seven peacekeepers were killed and three other were critically injured when the mission's logistic convoy hit an improvised explosive device in the Bandiagara region, central Mali.
