"A peacekeeper on a MINUSMA Force security patrol died today in Kidal after being seriously injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion while conducting a search and detect operation," the mission said in a statement.
MINUSMA head and the special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, strongly condemned the attack and called it a "terrible news that will add to the long list of our colleagues who died while serving in Mali."
MINUSMA has operated in Mali since 2013, when the UN Security Council established that political stability in Mali after a 2012 armed conflict between government forces, separatists and Islamist groups required international intervention. Since its formation, MINUSMA has registered over 200 fatalities, which is one of the highest rates among the UN peacekeeping missions.