Canadians start peace mission in Mali

GAO, MALI— Canada entered a new era of peacekeeping on Sunday as the first dozen members of its mission in Mali landed at a United Nations base near the desolate city of Gao.

As Mali received more peacekeeping troops, it said 16 people were killed as the Fulani ethnic group faces growing pressure over accusations of links to Al Qaeda extremists.

However, the leader of Mali’s largest Fulani association says the death toll of civilians killed Saturday, when a community militia attacked the village of Koumaga, is 32.

The Canadian troops were led by chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance.

He and several senior officers and the 12-member advance team landed in Gao, which 250 Canadians will call home for the next year. They were greeted by German officers, who have a large peacekeeping contingent in Mali, which includes a unit of helicopters, some of which Canada will replace in coming weeks.

The advance team is the first of what will be a steady stream of Canadian troops and equipment to arrive between now and August to help the beleaguered UN mission.

Their main mission will be to provide medical evacuations for the hundreds of UN troops operating in the northern and central parts of the country, where a tenuous peace deal between some armed groups and the government is in place.