As part of its forced pullout from the junta-led nation fighting separatist and jihadi rebellions, the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Mali said on Saturday that it has abandoned nine of its twelve outposts.
After the junta in June ordered that MINUSMA depart “without delay,” the United Nations Security Council launched an unprecedentedly hurried withdrawal that was scheduled to be finished by year’s end.
Hawa Ahmed Youssouf, the bureau chief of MINUSMA in the city of Gao, turned over control of the Ansongo camp in northern Mali to the authorities, who were represented by local official Ahmed Ag Aklinine.
In a social media announcement, the military stated, “This closure is the ninth among the 12 MINUSMA bases.”
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A detachment from neighbouring Niger occupied the Ansongo outpost, which was located 80 kilometres away from Gao.
Since2013, MINUSMA has been stationed in Mali to support the West African country in the face of a separatist uprising headed by Tuaregs and Islamist rebels connected to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
The army, jihadis, and separatists are fighting for control of northern Mali, and the hastened evacuation of more than 11,000 soldiers and 1,500 police officers has worsened relations with the military rulers who took over in 2020.
Because they believe it would go against past peace agreements, the separatists are against MINUSMA giving the bases to the Malian government.
Since then, the largely Tuareg tribes have started fighting the government again.
