As of: 27.06.2021 02:20 a.m.
The second plane with injured Bundeswehr soldiers from Mali has landed in Stuttgart. The first machine arrived in Cologne yesterday. All twelve German soldiers wounded in the attack are now back.
After the suicide attack in Mali, West Africa, the second plane with injured Bundeswehr soldiers landed in Germany. According to dpa information, the Airbus A310 reached Stuttgart at night. The wounded soldiers were then to be brought to the Bundeswehr hospital in Ulm.
All twelve German blue helmet soldiers injured in the attack are now back in Germany. A Bundeswehr machine with the three seriously injured German soldiers and those who had to be transported lying down had already landed in Cologne on Saturday afternoon. They were brought to the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in Koblenz. Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) wrote on Twitter that the condition of the returned soldiers was stable.
Twelve wounded Bundeswehr soldiers in an explosive attack in Mali
Stephan Stuchlik, ARD Berlin, daily topics 9.45 p.m., June 25, 2021
A suicide bomber attacked a standing patrol northeast of Gao city with a car bomb on Friday. 13 UN soldiers were injured, including twelve Germans. According to the UN, the soldiers secured the convoy of a Malian battalion. The previous day was preceded by the explosion of an explosive device, which only caused property damage to a vehicle.
There has been instability since 2012
Around 900 German soldiers are currently involved in the UN MINUSMA mission. The upper limit is 1100 men and women from Germany. The mission is intended to support the peace process in Mali. Islamist terrorist groups are active in the country.
The political situation has been characterized by increasing instability since 2012. Most of the Islamist-motivated violence has also reached neighboring countries in the Sahel zone in recent years. Thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed in the crisis region, and hundreds of thousands had to flee their homes.
France is increasing the pressure
In 2013, a massive military operation by the French repulsed the advance of the terrorist militias on the capital Bamako. Organized crime and cross-border smuggling are also a problem in the region, through which migration routes to North Africa and further on to Europe run.
Most recently there were two military coups in Mali. The last question in the room was whether Mali is even moving in the direction of radical Islamism after the latest coup. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a fundamental realignment of the French military presence in the Sahel region. He wants to suspend the anti-terrorist operation “Operation Barkhane” in order to increase the pressure on the crisis state and the putschists.