Mali’s unexpected request for U.N. peacekeepers to leave may signal the end of a decade-long mission that has struggled to protect civilians and its troops, raising fears the country could slide deeper into chaos amid an Islamist insurgency and the possible revival of a separatist uprising.
Since Mali’s junta joined forces with Russian military contractor Wagner Group in 2021, MINUSMA’s air and ground operations have been restricted, limiting its effectiveness against a decade-old Islamist insurgency that has spread across West Africa.
MINUSMA’s 13,000 troops have maintained the line in militant-controlled northern cities like Gao and Timbuktu. It patrols refugee camps and evacuates Mali’s underequipped troops.
The 2015 Algiers Accord pacified Tuareg-led insurgents in northern Mali, who ended their separatist uprising.
Following Mali’s Friday request, U.N. forces’ departure time remains unknown. If they do, Bamako will be left with roughly 1,000 Wagner soldiers to fight Islamic State and al Qaeda extremists, who have massacred thousands of civilians and soldiers and control significant parts of the desert north and center.
“If you leave, you have anarchy and civil war, especially against civilians and the weak,” former Mauritanian foreign minister Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah remarked on Friday. “If you stay, you are almost discredited.”
The Tuareg-led northern rebel organization Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) spokesman said a U.N. exit would be premature because the peace pact had not been completely implemented and would undermine Sahel security. However, the CMA had not yet taken a stance.
For years, the U.N. has had tense relations with Mali’s junta, which took power in two coups in 2020 and 2021. Bamako wanted MINUSMA to battle the Islamist threat, which the U.N. stated was not its role. Meanwhile, U.N. authorities sought broader flexibility to protect civilians and probe insurgent, army, and Wagner rights abuses.
Last month, U.N. investigators accused the army and “armed white men” of killing 500 people in Moura in March 2022, shattering ties. Mali, Russia, and Wagner deny attacking civilians in Moura or elsewhere in Mali.
The junta’s restrictions have hindered the U.N. It said Mali routinely restricted or delayed MINUSMA’s access to conflict zones, leaving it less equipped to protect civilians or investigate atrocities.
Mali’s government and army declined to comment.
Western and African ambassadors demanded change this year. After a January review of the mission, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rejected Mali’s African neighbors’ request for a 3,600-troop surge and a proposal to downsize MINUSMA to a political mission in Bamako.
He advocated prolonging the force’s mandate with minor changes, including closing several northern bases.
Malian authorities rejected all suggestions on June 14. On Friday, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told a U.N. security council meeting that MINUSMA should leave “right away” due to “a crisis of confidence between Malian authorities and MINUSMA.”
The 15-member U.N. Security Council was supposed to renew MINUSMA’s mandate by June 30. Reuters could not immediately determine whether the council, where Russia has a veto as one of the five permanent members, will vote for renewal or how long it would take to orderly withdraw the mission if there is no extension.
In response to Mali’s declaration, MINUSMA’s head El-Ghassim Wane told reporters on Friday that peacekeepers can only operate with host nation approval, calling the mission “impossible” without it.
MINUSMA spokesperson Fatoumata Sinkoun Kaba denied discussing exit logistics and said the mission would follow Security Council directives.
