EU training mission in Mali comes under attack by militants

EU training mission in Mali comes under attack by militants
The European Union training mission in Mali has said that one of its centres has come under attack, with some injuries reported.
2 min read
24 February, 2019
The EUTM mission is based in Mali to train the country's army against militants [Getty]

The European Union training mission that is working to boost the Malian military said one of its centres has come under attack.

In a tweet Sunday, the mission known as EUTM said that no members of its team were wounded in the attack on the Koulikoro training center. It did, however, make reference to "injured Malian armed forces personnel".

The attack marks the latest assault on international forces in Mali, where a French-led military operation first began fighting jihadis six years ago.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has been a frequent target of attacks as well. On Saturday, the UN said that three Guinean peacekeepers had been killed during an attack on their vehicles in Siby near the capital of Bamako.

Mali's unrest stems from a 2012 ethnic Tuareg separatist uprising which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north.

The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

But large stretches of the country remain out of the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which are frequent targets of attacks, despite a peace accord signed with Tuareg leaders in mid-2015 aimed at isolating the jihadists.

The violence has also spilled over into both Burkina Faso and Niger.

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