The Bundeswehr mission in Mali is a German convoy, probably by soldiers of the Malian armed forces have been shelled with which it works actually. The German responded, said Saturday evening the fire, as a spokesman for the operational command of the German armed forces on Sunday evening. Earlier, The Spiegel had reported about the incident. The convoy had been fired against 21.15 Central European time, about 50 kilometers West of Gao with hand weapons, explained the spokesman. Only later she realized that it was probably an exchange of fire with Malian soldiers.

The German armed forces soldiers were deployed to salvage a vehicle of the Belgian armed forces. All Bundeswehr soldiers were unharmed and returned to their camp, the spokesman said. When the incident was probably a Malian soldier had been wounded. So far could neither be confirmed nor excluded that he had been taken by the Germans. What exactly happened and how it came to the hazardous incident, is now to be elucidated. “It was already dark night when it happened,” the spokesman said.

The injured Malian soldier was then brought by the German army in a French sanitary facility and floated to the information on Sunday, still in danger of their lives.

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foreign intervention in Africa, Why the Bundeswehr is no Exit Plan for Mali has

Paul Starzmann

The Bundeswehr is involved in Mali, with around 1000 soldiers to the UN Mission Minusma to stabilize the West African country. They are stationed mainly in the North-Eastern town of Gao. Especially in the North of the country there are numerous groups of Islamist extremists in the Sahara active. (dpa)