Canadian peacekeepers will stay in Mali for another month, continuing to provide support to the war-torn country, in the wake of violent outbreaks, the government has announced.
Between Sunday and Monday, attackers, believed to belong to the Fulani ethnic group, raided the rival Dogon village of Sobane Da, in central Mali, and killed at least 95 people.
The Canadians, who were providing medical evacuation services as well as logistics and supply transport support, will stay until a Romanian helicopter unit is in place, the foreign ministry announced on Friday.
Canadian forces will only perform medical evacuation tasks, during the August extended tour of duty.
A Dogon village Mali in Mali. Source: AAP
The Canadian peacekeepers, who have been deployed in Gao in the north of the country since July 2018 as part of the United Nations force known as MINUSMA, were to leave at the end of July.
In late January, Romania agreed to relieve the Canadian forces with a contingent of about 250 personnel and eight helicopters.
MINUSMA was established in April 2013, after radical Islamist militias seized the north of the country the year before, only to be pushed back by French troops.
The force of 15,000 soldiers and police is considered to be one of the most dangerous peace missions run by the UN, with 195 fatalities.
With AFP...
