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After nine years of fighting a jihadist insurgency in north eastern Mali, French soldiers are getting back home. However, the UN Embassy is sceptical about the French withdrawal since it believes it would make the region vulnerable to jihadist attacks.
After nine years of fighting a jihadist insurgency in north eastern Mali, French soldiers are getting back home. However, the UN Embassy is sceptical about the French withdrawal since it believes it would make the region vulnerable to jihadist attacks.
France’s main military base at Gao will be returned to Malian forces. While warning that the French pull-out could spell trouble for Menaka, the UN emissary did not rule out an attack on Menaka town, where 5,000 people forced to flee the violence, had taken shelter. With minimal Malian forces in the area and some 600 peacekeepers available to protect civilians, UN personnel, and assets, MINUSMA’s ability to mount an effective response is limited.
At the UN Security Council, France offered to continue air support for the UN peacekeepers from outside Mali. This support is necessary for MINUSMA and to protect the peacekeepers. But Mali rejected the offer. Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop maintained that his country strongly opposed air support that Barkhane might make to the (UN) mission on Malian territory.
France set up the Menaka outpost in 2018. It is a tri-border zone of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. It housed French and European special forces under the name Takuba, which was tasked with training up local troops. France launched anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel in 2013 to insulate revolt in the Northern part of Mali.
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The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established by the Security Council in 25 April 2013. Its aim was to support political processes in that country and carry out a number of security-related tasks.
