The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has been compelled to initiate a hasty withdrawal following demands by Mali’s ruling military council since 2020, declaring the mission a “failure” and condemning its alleged “exploitation” of human rights issues.
Decisions by Mali’s ruling military council have accelerated MINUSMA’s departure and resulted in the destruction of equipment left behind in the African country, which has been plagued by jihadist attacks and tensions with Tuareg separatists. The lives of its personnel are also at risk due to the lack of travel permits for air travel.
Here are the significant developments in the extensive and perilous withdrawal process that marks the end of ten years of efforts to achieve stability in a country plagued by jihadist attacks and a multifaceted crisis.
The United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, consisting of around 15,000 soldiers and police officers, including over 180 individuals killed in attacks, is scheduled to withdraw by December 31.
MINUSMA attributed the acceleration of its withdrawal to the military escalation that endangers its personnel, accusing authorities of complicating its exit from the country by impeding its movements.
After vacating five camps at the beginning of August, the UN mission announced on Sunday that it had “completed its accelerated withdrawal” on Saturday from its base in Tessalit in the north, due to the “threats” posed to its staff.
Prior to the mission’s withdrawal, its personnel were “forced to seek shelter in bunkers several times due to gunfire.”
This occurred on Thursday, “October 19, when the wing of a (cargo) plane (a Tunisian aircraft leased by MINUSMA) was hit while landing in Tessalit.” The mission confirmed there were “no injuries or major damage to the aircraft.”
Some of the personnel, predominantly Chadians, left in an aircraft, while the remainder departed “in a ground convoy” bound for Gao, Mali’s largest city in the north, on a journey spanning more than 500 kilometers through the desert amidst continuous threats from armed groups.
A similar scene unfolded the following day as MINUSMA personnel withdrew from the Aguelhok base and traveled by land due to their lack of travel permits for air travel.
These convoys came under attack from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), resulting in casualties, according to MINUSMA.
The attacks were claimed by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).
MINUSMA reported that a truck driver suffered serious injuries, while two others sustained minor injuries on Thursday when gunmen opened fire on a logistics convoy departing from Ansongo, another camp to be evacuated.
