Minusma “completed its withdrawal from the country by December 31,” 2023 as agreed with the military in power in Mali, Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
Mr. Guterres praised “the key role” played by Minusma “in ensuring respect for the ceasefire as part of the 2015 peace and reconciliation agreement (between Bamako and rebel groups in the North) as well as than the transition” in this country where soldiers seized power by force in Bamako in 2020.
The UN chief also “paid tribute to the 311 Minusma personnel who lost their lives and the more than 700 injured in the service of peace during the 10 years of deployment of the Mission in Mali” in attacks mainly perpetrated by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization, in its press release.
Almost untenable
Minusma is the UN mission hardest hit in recent years. Its numbers numbered around 15,000 soldiers and police officers from dozens of countries.
Minusma set out to leave Mali after Bamako’s request and planned its disengagement from most of its 13 holds, in difficult conditions in the north, under the pressure of a military escalation between all the armed actors present. in the field.
Its presence had become almost untenable after the military seized power in 2020.
The junta made a strategic reorientation, broke the old alliance with the former dominant power France and turned militarily and politically towards Russia.
This article is originally published on bluewin.ch
