Chadian soldiers under the UNMISMA peacekeeping mission in Mali who were killed in the line of duty, last week, have been buried in Ndjamena.
The soldiers were interred in a military cemetery on Monday, 29 January 2019, in the presence of President Idriss Déby, Head of the UN mission Mahamat Saleh Annadif and Khamis Camara, representative of the Malian government.
The ten Chadian peacekeepers were killed in an attack on their camp in Aguelock (northern Mali) on 20 January 2019 by unknown assailants who rode heavily armed motorcycles.
Another 25 Chadian soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Before the burial, there was a ceremony at the 27-member camp of the Group of inter-service military training colleges (GEMIA) to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers.
The victims were decorated posthumously by Mali and their country Chad.
While at the military cemetery, President Déby personally turned the first sods at the funeral.
Mali’s Minister of Defence, Tchiera Coulibaly, while condemning the attack on the Chadian contingent as “cowardly and barbaric,” said such an outrage only strengthens the resolve of countries engaged in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.
– APA
