The United Nations will be terminating its decade-long peacekeeping mission in Mali on June 30 and will begin to extract all its personnel within six months after that day. This report is according to a draft Security Council resolution suggested by France.
The departure of the 13,000-strong mission, aka MINUSMA, is coming after several years of tensions between the United Nations and Mali’s military junta finally came to a head this month, when Abdoulaye Diop, Mali’s Foreign Minister had ordered the force to exit the country “without delay”.
The U.N. mission has been acknowledged for playing a critical role in safeguarding civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has butchered thousands of people.
Diop’s order signifies that the UN’s mission to the country (allegedly crippling government restrictions since Mali teamed up with Wagner’s Russian military group) will now come to an abrupt halt.
There is apprehension in the country that the security situation may worsen when the mission departs, and Mali’s under-equipped army, together with about 1,000 Wagner fighters is not an encouraging sight, fit to battle the militants controlling vast territory in the desert north and centre.
According to the draft resolution, the U.N. personnel will stick around in the country until the end of the year to allow for a smooth transition, but during that period, the activities of the MINUSMA will be decreased.
The support for the U.N mission had begun to wane from Western countries since 2021, when Britain, Germany and Sweden announced plans to pull their troops out from the country.
France too had withdrawn its detached force in Mali after a dispute with the government.
It is noteworthy to mention that the force has been condemned by Mali’s military leaders and civilians, for not doing more to staunch the bloodshed in the country.
This same criticised U.N force has lost over 170 peacekeepers in battle, meaning that MINUSMA is presently, the deadliest unfinished combat mission for the U.N.
The MINUSMA spokes representative and the Malian government has turned down requests for comment.
Prior to the Malian government’s order, a lot of African countries had wanted MINUSMA to stay and augment its troops.
