{"id":53672,"date":"2014-10-05T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T11:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=53672"},"modified":"2014-10-05T08:33:11","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T08:33:11","slug":"niger-peacekeepers-to-remain-in-mali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/10\/niger-peacekeepers-to-remain-in-mali\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger peacekeepers to remain in Mali"},"content":{"rendered":"
Niger says it will not be intimidated into leaving Mali a day after nine of its peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in the neighbouring country.<\/p>\n
Niger’s president, Mahamadou Issoufou, vowed on Saturday that the West African country would stay in Mali and continue to fight.<\/p>\n
Gunmen on motorbikes on Friday attacked a convoy of Niger’s troops who are participating in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.<\/p>\n
The ambush was the deadliest attack on the UN force yet.<\/p>\n
UN troops are trying to stabilise Mali’s north, which fell under the control of Tuareg fighters and then an al-Qaeda-linked group following a 2012 coup.<\/p>\n
A French-led intervention last year scattered the fighters, but attacks on the UN force have been increasing lately.<\/p>\n