Four Sri Lankan Army soldiers serving the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA (UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) sustained minor injuries following detonation of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Mali on Sunday while Sri Lankan peacekeepers were in an armored vehicle providing security for a logistics convoy, Army said.
The explosion occurred about 15 km northwest of their camp in Tessalit in the Kidal region of Mali, a landlocked country marred by tribal riots. Reports said the injuries were not serious and they were undergoing medical treatment, according to the Army.
Colonel J.M.D.N.C Jayamaha, the Commanding Officer of the Sri Lankan contingent in the MINUSMA said that the blast occurred when Sri Lankan troops on board an armoured vehicle was providing security to a convoy along the road.
Meanwhile, Stephane Dujarric, the Chief Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was quoted saying that an immediate search of the surrounding area that followed discovered a second IED which was successfully detonated. He had also gone on record saying that the mission earlier in the day also had detonated another IED discovered some 32 km northwest of the Tessalit camp.
First Bishop of the Batticaloa Diocese, Retired Bishop Joseph Ponnaiya, passed away today at the age of 74, following a brief illness.
The NPP government has been at the wheel for almost 6 months now. The time to keep looking at the rear view mirror and living in the past is about over.
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