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An armored vehicle escorting a MINUSMA logistic convoy from Gao to Kidal, is parked as trucks pass by, Mali February 16, 2017. Shortly after the last U.N. convoy rolled out, the ethnic Tuareg rebels announced they had taken over the base. The Tuareg rebels signed a 2015 peace agreement brokered by MINUSMA but maintained control of much of the north from Kidal. The first sign of trouble came in early August, when fighting broke out between Mali's army and Tuareg rebels around the U.N.'s camp in Ber in the north. As in Kidal, peacekeepers destroyed equipment before leaving that could have been transported in trucks earlier, if the government had allowed.

Persons: MINUSMA, Sylvain Liechti, jeopardising U.N, couldn't, Fatoumata Sinkoun Kaba, Yvan Guichaoua, Edward McAllister, David Lewis, Michelle Nichols, Mahamat, Alexandra Zavis, Daniel Flynn Organizations: UN, DAKAR, United Nations, U.N, Reuters, Authorities, Security, Islamic State, Department of Peace Operations, Department of Operational, Wagner Group, MINUSMA, University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies, Thomson Locations: Gao, Mali, Kidal, West Africa, Malian, al Qaeda, Algeria, Mauritania, Ber, Tessalit, Algerian, Bamako, Dakar, Nairobi, New York, N'Djamena

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Fifteen U.N. peacekeepers in a convoy withdrawing from a rebel stronghold in northern Mali were injured when vehicles hit improvised explosive devices on two occasions this week, the United Nations said Friday. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said eight peacekeepers injured Wednesday were evacuated by air and “are now reported to be in stable condition.”He said seven peacekeepers injured by an IED early Friday also were evacuated by air. JNIM, an extremist group with links to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the earlier attacks, in which at least two peacekeepers were injured. An employee with MINUSMA earlier told The Associated Press that the peacekeepers left Kidal in convoys after Mali’s junta refused to authorize flights to repatriate U.N. equipment and civilian personnel. That deal was signed after Tuareg rebels drove security forces out of northern Mali in 2012 as they sought to create an independent state they call Azawad.

Persons: U.N, Stephane Dujarric, ”, Dujarric, Gao, António Guterres, MINUSMA, “ Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations, . Security, Associated Press, Analysts Locations: Mali, Kidal, Gao, Niger

☆ Mali rebels say they have taken base vacated by UN peacekeepers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The UN mission, known as MINUSMA, has until Dec. 31 to pack up after Mali’s military junta ordered it to leave in June. Its withdrawal from other bases has already prompted fighting between Mali’s army and the rebels, who are vying for control of areas vacated by the peacekeepers. Kidal is the eighth MINUSMA base to close in central and northern Mali and is one of the most important. It lies in a zone historically controlled by the rebels that Mali’s junta wants to take back. Mali’s military authorities have expressed concern that the UN has left bases without handing them over to the army.

Persons: MINUSMA Organizations: Reuters, United Nations, UN, Peace, Security, Development, ”, Islamic Locations: Mali, Kidal, West, al Qaeda, Islamic State

☆ UN ends peacekeeping mission in Mali, US blames Russia's Wagner
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva told the Security Council that Mali had made a "sovereign decision." "Russia will continue to provide comprehensive support to Mali for normalizing the situation in that country on a bilateral basis." Ambassador Issa Konfourou told the Security Council. "The government regrets that the Security Council continues to consider the situation in Mali as a threat to international peace and security," Konfourou said. The Security Council deployed MINUSMA in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability.

Persons: Russia's Wagner, Mali's, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, John Kirby, Anna Evstigneeva, U.N, Issa Konfourou, Konfourou, Antonio Guterres, Abdoulaye Diop, MINUSMA, Michelle Nichols, Steve Holland, Caitlin Webber, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations Security, African, Security, House, Security Council, United Nations, Malian Foreign, MINUSMA, Thomson Locations: Mali, United States, Russia, French, Bamako, Malian, Washington

The U.N. mission is credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands. "The Security Council ... decides to terminate MINUSMA's mandate as of June 30 2023," said the draft resolution circulated among council member states last week. A draft resolution could still be changed before publication, but two of the sources said they expected no changes to be made. The 15-member Security Council is due to vote on Thursday. Under the draft resolution, operations would be pared down to providing security to U.N. personnel, facilities and convoys.

Persons: Adama Diarra, Abdoulaye Diop, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, MINUSMA, Moscow's, David Lewis, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols Organizations: UN, United Nations, Reuters, Mali Foreign, Security, Security Council, Thomson Locations: Kouroume, Mali, Kourome, Timbuktu, Mali Mali, NAIROBI, DAKAR, France, Mali's, Russia, Belarus, China, United States, Britain, Germany, Sweden, al Qaeda, West Africa, Gao, Algiers Accords

The planned end of the MINUSMA mission follows years of tensions between the U.N. and Mali's military junta that came to a head this month when Mali Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop asked the force to leave "without delay". The U.N. mission is credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands. Under the draft text, MINUSMA would have until Dec. 31 to undertake an "orderly and safe" withdrawal, which the Security Council would review by Oct. 30. A UN peacekeeping spokesperson said: "Subject to the decision of the Security Council, the United Nations is ready to work with the Malian authorities on an exit plan for MINUSMA." The U.N. had been expected to extend its mandate for another year this month, before Mali asked it to leave.

Persons: Adama Diarra, Abdoulaye Diop, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, MINUSMA, David Lewis, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: UN, United Nations, Reuters, Mali Foreign, Security Council, Thomson Locations: Kouroume, Mali, Kourome, Timbuktu, Mali Mali, NAIROBI, DAKAR, Mali's, Russia, Belarus, China, United States, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, al Qaeda, West Africa, Gao, Algiers Accords

☆ US urges 'orderly, responsible' drawdown of UN peacekeepers from Mali
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 19 (Reuters) - The United States regrets a decision by Mali's interim military authorities to ask a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country, the State Department said on Monday, calling for an "orderly and responsible" drawdown of the mission. "The United States regrets the transition government of Mali’s decision to revoke its consent for MINUSMA," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. "MINUSMA's drawdown must be orderly and responsible, prioritizing the safety and security of peacekeepers and Malians." MINUSMA was deployed by the U.N. Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability. U.N. Security Council members had started to discuss a draft resolution to extend MINUSMA's mandate, which expires on June 30.

Persons: Abdoulaye Diop, Matthew Miller, MINUSMA, Miller, Michelle Nichols, Daphne Psaledakis, Franklin Paul, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: United Nations, State Department, Mali's, Security, Department, . Security, Thomson Locations: United States, Mali, France, Russia, West Africa, El

And it has also helped to placate Tuareg-led rebels in northern Mali who halted their separatist uprising with the 2015 Algiers Accord. Mali, Russia and Wagner deny wrongdoing in Moura or targeting civilians anywhere in Mali. RESTRICTIONSMINUSMA launched in 2013 after the separatist rebels and al Qaeda-linked insurgents occupied northern Mali. Bamako and the Kremlin say Russian troops, not Wagner mercenaries, are present in Mali but only to train the army and supply equipment. As a result, MINUSMA has struggled to counter a tide of anti-U.N. posts online, losing the battle for public opinion in Mali.

Persons: Wagner, Ahmedou Ould, Abdallah, MINUSMA, General Antonio Guterres, Abdoulaye Diop, U.N, Fatoumata Sinkoun Kaba, Souleymane Dembelé, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Ould Mohamed Ramdane, Ramdane, Yvan Guichaoua, Friedrich, Ebert, Edward McAllister, David Lewis, Tiemoko Diallo, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Wagner Group, Islamic, CMA, Malian Foreign, Security, Reuters, El, Kremlin, French, Department of Peace, UN, U.S, Thomson Locations: DAKAR, NAIROBI, Russian, West Africa, Gao, Timbuktu, Mali, Algiers, Bamako, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Mauritanian, Sahel, Moura, Russia, U.N, Burkina Faso, Niger, Central African Republic, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France, Egypt, Brussels, U.S, Dakar, Nairobi

☆ Germany resists Malian junta demand for immediate exit of troops
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Berlin has deployed some 1,000 troops to Mali, most near the northern town of Gao where their main task is to gather reconnaissance for the 13,000-strong MINUSMA. MINUSMA was deployed by the U.N. Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability. A resolution requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass. The junta has burnt bridges with traditional Western allies and turned to Russia for help boosting its military capabilities. Germany said late last year it would start to pull out its troops from Mali from the middle of next year after a decade-long mission, with the withdrawal to be completed by May 2024.

Persons: MINUSMA, Wagner, Sarah Marsh, Sabine Siebold, Giles Elgood Organizations: United Nations, West, . Security, Security, UN, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, Berlin, Mali, Gao, France, Russia, China, United States, Britain

☆ Mali asks United Nations to withdraw peacekeeping force
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Mali's interim military authorities on Friday asked for a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave "without delay", citing a "crisis of confidence" between Malian authorities and the decade-long U.N. mission known as MINUSMA. MINUSMA was deployed by the U.N. Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability. "This situation is begetting mistrust among the Malian population and also causing a crisis of confidence between Malian authorities and MINUSMA," he said. Security Council members must adopt a resolution to extend MINUSMA's mandate by June 30. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recommended this month that the Security Council extend MINUSMA's mandate for a year, maintaining the current authorized strength of some 15,000 troops and police.

Persons: MINUSMA, Abdoulaye Diop, Wagner, Russia's U.N, Vassily Nebenzia, Nebenzia, Nicolas de Riviere, de Riviere, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Michelle Nichols, Bate Felix, Alessandra Prenticel, Frank Jack Daniel, Grant McCool Organizations: YORK, United Nations, West, . Security, Foreign, Security, UN, Thomson Locations: France, MINUSMA, Russia, China, United States, Britain, Mali, al Qaeda, State, Sahel, El

☆ One U.N. peacekeeper killed and four injured in north Mali attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAKAR, June 9 (Reuters) - At least one United Nations peacekeeper was killed and four others seriously injured when their patrol was attacked in northern Mali on Friday, the peacekeeping mission MINUSMA said. MINUSMA said on Twitter the patrol first encountered an improvised explosive device and was then hit with a direct fire attack. It did not name perpetrators but said it was a "complex attack" and that updates on casualties would follow. Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have been waging an insurgency in northern Mali since they hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in 2012. At least 303 MINUSMA personnel have been killed in hostile acts in Mali since the start of the mission in 2013, making it the deadliest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.

Persons: MINUSMA, Sofia Christensen, Toby Chopra, Sriraj Organizations: United Nations peacekeeper, Twitter, Islamic, United Nations, Thomson Locations: DAKAR, Mali, Ber, Tombouctou, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Sahel

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