Wednesday, November 03, 2021
Government troops open fire
German blue helmets shot at in Mali
The mission in Mali is considered to be the most dangerous foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr. Now German blue helmet soldiers are being shot at by government troops not far from their base. The relationship between the country’s military junta and the EU has been tense for weeks.
In Mali, soldiers of the national army opened fire on German UN blue helmets on the edge of the Camp Castor military camp in Gao. There was a shelling the evening before, but there were no injuries, said a spokesman for the operational command near Potsdam.
The incident occurred in the immediate vicinity of the camp. There was initially no explanation for the fire. The leadership of the operation contacted the Malian armed forces in order to obtain an investigation. Members of the Bundeswehr are stationed at Camp Castor and are provided by Germany for the UN troop MINUSMA in the West African country. Germany had recently stationed around 1,300 soldiers in Mali.
In addition to the MINUSMA stabilization mission, the German Armed Forces in Mali also participate in the EU training mission EUTM. They are intended to support the armed forces in the region with advice and training so that they can effectively counter threats from terrorist groups. The unstable crisis state has been plagued by Islamist terror groups for years. Mali is considered to be the most dangerous foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr. In June, twelve German soldiers were injured in a bomb attack.
In Mali, the military overthrew the transitional government in May, which was supposed to be in office until the 2022 presidential election. Most recently, Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas questioned the Federal Armed Forces mission in Mali. The reason was reports that the country’s military junta is planning to bring a Russian mercenary force into the country. In early October, Moscow delivered four military helicopters to the government in Bamako. The proximity to Russia also angered Mali’s former colonial power France and other Western European countries.