UN peacekeeping operation in Mali to end after military junta makes demand

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to immediately end its peacekeeping operation in Mali as demanded by the country’s military junta, which has brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamic insurgency.

Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, has grappled with the insurgency for over a decade. It has seen its relations with the international community become strained in part because the ruling junta brought in the Wagner mercenaries who also have been engaged in Moscow’s war in Ukraine and were part of a short-lived mutiny against Russia’s military last week.

The French-drafted resolution was adopted unanimously, terminates the mandate of the peacekeeping mission known as MINUSMA as of Friday. The mission is also ordered to start the cessation of operations on Saturday, including transferring some tasks and withdrawing its more than 15,000 personnel “with the objective of completing this process by Dec. 31, 2023.”

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, expressed regret at the military government’s decision to abandon the U.N. mission. He also said that “some domestic actors” in Mali are calling for harassment of peacekeepers and urged the mission to ensure the safe and orderly transfer of U.N. facilities and equipment to U.N.-designated places.

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“The U.N. has a responsibility to minimize the risk that its assets fall into the hands of those looking to destabilize Mali, or bring harm to its people, including violent extremist organizations and the Wagner Group,” he said.

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Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward expressed regret that Mali wanted the peacekeepers to leave at a time when the region is “facing increasing instability and humanitarian needs.”

“And we do not believe the partnership with the Wagner Group will deliver long-term stability or security for the Malian people,” she said.

Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in the West African nation’s northern cities the following year, with the help of a French-led military operation. But they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.

The U.N. peacekeepers came in a few months later in what has become one of the most dangerous U.N. missions in the world. At least 170 peacekeepers have been killed in the country since 2013, according to the United Nations.

Mali has been ruled by a military junta following two coups, starting in 2020, led by Col. Assimi Goita, who now runs the country.

The resolution welcomes Goita’s commitment to organizing free and fair presidential elections in February 2024 and ensuring the return to constitutional order the following months — commitments DeLaurentis and other council members said the transitional government must keep.

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The council’s decision to end the U.N. mission followed a demand by Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop to the Security Council on June 16 that the peacekeepers leave the country.

Diop claimed that they had failed in their mission to tackle the insurgency and restore security to the country and were sowing distrust among the people. There is “a crisis of confidence between Malian authorities and MINUSMA,” he said.

The United Nations needs support of governments for its peacekeeping missions to operate.

Mali’s U.N. Ambassador Issa Konfourou told the council after the vote that while MINUSMA didn’t achieve its fundamental goal of supporting the government’s efforts to secure the country, the people and the government in Mali would “like to applaud its contribution in other areas” especially humanitarian and social assistance.

The resolution stresses the obligation of Mali’s transitional government to cooperate with the orderly drawdown and liquidation of MINUSMA’s assets, which will begin on Jan. 1 and ensure they are carried out in safety.

Konfourou said Malian authorities are committed to closely cooperating with the U.N. and MINUSMA on implementing the measure.