Officials: UN vehicle drives over mine at north Mali airstrip, 1 Chadian solider wounded

Published January 08, 2015

Officials say a United Nations vehicle securing an airstrip in northern Mali drove over a mine and a Chadian soldier with the U.N. force has been seriously wounded.

Earlier Wednesday, a plane carrying U.N. officials and European ambassadors had landed at the strip in the city of Kidal. When the blast happened, the delegation was already in town.

Kidal's mayor, Abda Ag Kazina, said a Chadian contingent of the U.N. force securing Mali was in the vehicle. Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the force, said one soldier was badly wounded.

Northern Mali was overrun in 2012 by several rebel groups, including al-Qaida-linked extremists. Kidal has repeatedly come under attack even following their ouster by a French-led military operation last year. The town is also the stronghold of separatist Tuareg rebels.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/officials-un-vehicle-drives-over-mine-at-north-mali-airstrip-1-chadian-solider-wounded