In Mali, the authorities suspend all rotations of Minusma contingents

The authorities of Mali have suspended from Thursday July 14 all the rotations of the military and police contingents of the United Nations Mission in Mali (Minusma), including those already scheduled or announced, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release .

This decision applies until “arranging a meeting” by the Malian party, the date of which has not been communicated, for “facilitate coordination and regulation” of the rotation of these contingents, adds the press release. The Malian authorities justify their decision by invoking the “national security context”.

This measure comes four days after the arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers, “mercenaries” according to Bamako, who accuse them of having “malignant purpose” of “break the dynamic of refoundation” of the Malian state.

According to Abidjan, they were deployed in Mali as national support elements (ENS), a UN procedure allowing contingents of peacekeeping missions to call on external service providers for logistical support. Bamako assures the Minusma to work from “diligent manner in order to create the conditions conducive to the lifting of this suspensive measure”the statement said.

Some 13,000 UN troops

The mandate of Minusma, present in Mali since 2013 with some 13,000 soldiers, was renewed for one year on June 29, but with a “firm opposition” of Mali to the freedom of movement of blue helmets for investigations related to human rights.

Mali was the scene of two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021. The political crisis goes hand in hand with a serious ongoing security crisis since 2012 and the outbreak of independence and jihadist insurgencies in the north.

The country is ruled by a military junta that has turned away from France and its partners and turned to Russia in an attempt to stem the spread of jihadism that has spread to the center as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. .