1 U.N. peacekeeper killed in Mali

As reported in 'The Japan News' : The Associated Press BAMAKO (AP) — A Senegalese peacekeeper with the United Nations was killed in a rocket attack Tuesday afternoon on a joint U.N.-French base in northern Mali, officials with the U.N. and Senegal said. The spokesman for the U.N. mission in Mali, Olivier Salgado, said eight rockets struck in the city of Kidal, killing one soldier. He said the identity of the attackers was not immediately known. A spokesman for Senegal’s army, Col. Abou Thiam, confirmed late Tuesday the peacekeeper was Senegalese and said two other Senegalese peacekeepers were lightly injured. The attack came as the U.N. peacekeeping chief, Herve Ladsous, was visiting Mali after the death of nine peacekeepers in a separate assault last week. He recently told reporters that as French troops have drawn down in the region, the situation for peacekeepers has become “intolerable.” Ladsous told a press conference Tuesday that peacekeepers in Mali will be equipped with combat helicopters and drones in the next two or three months