The first medical evacuation flight took off Saturday for UN peacekeepers injured in a suicide attack in Mali, German media reported.
Twelve Germans and one Belgian in a German-led U.N. patrol north of the city of Gao in Mali were injured after a suicide car bomb Friday morning, the United Nations confirmed.
A car bomb attack in northern Mali leaves at least 15 UN peacekeepers wounded.The attack targeted a temporary base near Tarkint in the northeastern region of Gao. pic.twitter.com/WF8hqABgIR
— Dala FM Kenya (@dalafmKenya) June 25, 2021
The peacekeepers are receiving medical attention and the first evacuees aboard an A400M aircraft took off from Gao Saturday with three seriously injured soldiers and others who have to be transported lying down, the German news agency DPA reported.
The flight is slated to arrive in airport in Cologne, Germany, later in the day. The U.N. blue helmets will be transported from the airport to the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in Koblenz.
Meanwhile, a second Airbus from Germany was headed towards Nige, where the Bundeswehr has a center for treating the injured from Mali, according the report. The soldiers the Airbus picks up there will be flown to Stuttgart, and transported from there to Ulm for treatment.
A car bomb in northern #Mali wounds 15 #UN peacekeepers, in the latest attack in the war-torn Sahel state, and an evacuation is under way in the lawless north of the country.https://t.co/eZGZrKUvBe
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 25, 2021
Friday's attack was the worst to date on German troops in the West African country. The UN peacekeeping mission currently has around 900 German troops deployed, most of them are based near Gao.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
