Due to worsening ties, Mali’s military officials ordered the UN stabilization mission, known as MINUSMA, to depart on December 31. The mission had been in existence since 2013.
According to the ruling junta, the UN mission in Mali, which was forced to leave the crisis-plagued nation last year, will be entirely removed by mid-November.
Due to deteriorating ties, Mali’s military officials ordered the UN stabilization mission (MINUSMA), which had been in place since 2013, to go on December 31.
In the past, it had kept some 15,000 police and soldiers in the impoverished and vulnerable West African country, which is experiencing crises and militant violence.
Since January, there has been a so-called liquidation phase during which the last pieces of equipment have been evacuated or turned over to the authorities, and final contracts have been finalized.
“This phase ends on November 15, 2024, with the handover of the Bamako camp and the repatriation of all civilian international personnel, contingents, and equipment, thus establishing the definitive withdrawal of MINUSMA,” released a statement late Wednesday by the council of ministers.
The UN mission was accused of “fuelling community tensions” by the ruling junta in Mali, which took over in a coup in 2020.
Additionally, it severed ties with France, the former colonial power that had been assisting in the fight against militant militants in the north, and has since looked to Russia for both military and diplomatic support.
Attacks that killed over 180 MINUSMA members were primarily attributed to armed organizations associated with Daesh terror or Al Qaeda.
