By Ebi Kesiena
United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to end a decade-old peacekeeping mission to Mali, and then transfer of security responsibilities to the country’s transitional Government, which has been in power since a coup in 2021.
The vote came two weeks after Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop stunned the Security Council by calling the U.N. mission a “failure” and urging its immediate end.
According to Senior U.S. diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis the departure from Mali is unfortunate.
“We deeply regret the transitional government’s decision to abandon Minusma and the harm this will bring to the Malian people,”.
But he said that the United States voted for the resolution as it agreed with the timeline for withdrawal.
Recall that Mali’s relations with the United Nations has deteriorated sharply since a 2020 coup brought to power a military regime which also severed defense cooperation with France, the former colonial power.
The junta has aligned itself with Russia and brought in the Wagner Group, a ruthless mercenaries involved in a mutiny against President Vladimir Putin last week.
Simultaneously, the Security Council vote triggers the departure of more than 13,000 troops, who although they didn’t provide offensive roles, contributed to the security of large towns in northern Mali.
Once the departure takes effect, the Malian Armed Forces will only have Wagner for a partner, which the ruling junta describes as “instructors.”
Mali extends over 1.24 million square kilometres (479,000 square miles), of mainly semi-desert terrain, neglected for years by the central government.
In Mali’s wind- and sand- beaten land, power is disputed by armed groups that are signatories of the 2015 Algiers accords, which were never implemented – the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), which is Al-Qaeda-linked, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
However, under the longstanding U.N. practice, a peacekeeping mission needs the approval of the host country.
