According to the government of the country of Mali, which is located in West Africa, Islamist militants carried out attacks over the weekend that resulted in the deaths of 132 people.
According to a statement released by the government of Mali, the fatalities took place when numerous villages located near Bankass in the country’s central region were assaulted. The assaults give rise to the hypothesis that Islamic extremist violence is moving southward from northern Mali towards more central regions such as Bankass.
Col. Assimi Goita, the chairman of the reigning junta, has announced that a period of national mourning would begin on Tuesday and last for a total of three days.
According to a statement released by the United Nations mission in Mali, a United Nations peacekeeper who had been injured by the explosion of an explosive device passed away on Sunday as a result of the injuries he had incurred.
Attacks in the central and northern regions of Mali have resulted in the deaths of several hundred people since the beginning of the year. Both the Malian Army and Islamist rebels have been blamed for the assaults.
After France conducted a military operation in 2012 to expel Islamist rebels who had taken over cities and large towns in northern Mali the year before, the United Nations decided to establish a peacekeeping force in Mali the following year, in 2013.
Approximately 12,000 soldiers and about 2,000 police officers and other personnel are now serving with the operation in Mali. According to authorities, more than 270 United Nations troops have been killed in Mali, making it the deadliest peacekeeping assignment in the history of the organisation.
