Mali: shelling against the Minusma camp in Ménaka

A camp of the United Nations Mission (Minusma) in Ménaka, in northern Mali, was targeted on Sunday afternoon by mortar shell fire which did not cause any casualties, we learned. with the organization.

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"

," a Minusma official told AFP.

No casualties or damage were reported, according to the same source, which did not specify who the perpetrators of these shots were.

This attack comes a few hours after the death of a French soldier during a mortar attack on Saturday against the Gao camp, in northern Mali, in a context of extreme tension between Paris and Bamako amid the deployment of mercenaries Russians in this country of the Sahel.

This is the 53rd French soldier killed in combat in the Sahel since 2013 and the first in 2022. Three were killed last year, a fourth soldier having died accidentally.

Nine other French soldiers were "

" but "

", specified the general staff of the Armies in a press release.

France undertook in June to reorganize its military posture by leaving its three northernmost bases in Mali (Tessalit, Kidal and Timbuktu) to refocus around Gao and Ménaka.

This plan provides for a reduction in the workforce in the Sahel, from 5,000 currently, to 2,500/3,000 by 2023. Mali has been plunged into a serious security and political crisis since the outbreak of independence and jihadist insurgencies in 2012, which then spread to neighboring countries.

The Sahelian country has also been facing heavy sanctions since mid-January from the West African regional organization ECOWAS, against the military junta's plan to continue to govern for several years, and the revoked commitment to organize in February elections that would have returned the civilians to the head of the country.

Colonel Assimi Goïta, brought to the head of Mali by a first coup in August 2020, was invested president "

" following a second coup in May 2021.