The UN announced on Thursday August 17 the withdrawal of its blue helmets from a third camp in Mali, in accordance with its complete departure plan from this Sahel country on December 31, 2023.
“The United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (Minusma) confirms that a convoy carrying blue helmets and equipment from its camp in the town of Goundam, in the Timbuktu region, as part of the withdrawal process , arrived without incident in the city of Timbuktu on Wednesday »according to a statement at UN headquarters in New York.
The Minusma applies the decision taken at the end of June by the UN Security Council: to put an immediate end to the mission deployed since 2013 in the country, at the request of the junta which came to power by force in 2020.
This third withdrawal since early August was a “complex operation (which) involved” the departure of Ivorian soldiers, United Nations and Bangladeshi police, the statement said.
11,600 soldiers, 1,500 police in 13 camps
These “peacekeepers were supporting the protection of the local population, despite regular attacks using improvised explosive devices, in an area that has one of the highest levels of insecurity and a strong presence of extremist groups »argues the UN.
The Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a jihadist alliance affiliated with Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility this week for an attack carried out on Sunday in northern Mali, injuring four peacekeepers as they left their camp in Ber .
The Minusma had announced this August 13 to have “anticipated”for security reasons, its withdrawal from the Ber base (north) which the army claims to have recovered “after many incidents” with the groups “terrorists” and despite the desires of the former Tuareg rebellion.
The departure of Ber of the Burkinabé blue helmets was scheduled by the end of the year, after a first departure on August 3 and 4 from Ogossagou (center) which the Malian army says it has since controlled. The withdrawal by the Minusma of some 11,600 soldiers and 1,500 police officers of dozens of nationalities and spread over 13 camps must be spread out until December 31.
The junta has made sovereignty its mantra since taking over Mali, and broke the alliance with France and its partners against jihadism, to turn militarily and politically to Russia.