In a context of tension between the United Nations and the ruling junta in Mali, the Bamako authorities have announced the resumption of rotations of the Minusma force.
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The rotations of the contingents of the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma), suspended for a month, will resume on Monday, August 15, with a new approval mechanism in a context of diplomatic tensions between Bamako and its partners. “Minusma has agreed to the new procedures and communicated them to all troop contributing countries. There will be no exceptions.“, declared to AFP the Malian Minister Abdoulaye Diop. The Minusma has 12,261 soldiers and 1,718 police officers.
Before, “they [les contingents] seized us directly. We put an end to that. All requests must now go through the Minusma which must validate them and send them to Foreign Affairs by note verbale”, said the head of Malian diplomacy. The rotations of the military and police contingents of the Minusma had been suspended on July 14 for an indefinite period due to the “national security context”.
On Friday, Germany announced that it was suspending “until further notice” most of its military operations in Mali as part of the UN mission (Minusma), denouncing a new refusal of overflight by the Malian authorities. “The Germans must comply with the new procedures. Their Minister of Defense moved quickly to announce the suspension of their operations. This does not impress usreacted Abdoulaye Diop. Our line is clear. We do not compromise on issues of national sovereignty and security.”
Mali is ruled by a junta which forced French troops out of the country a few months ago and which has eagerly relaunched cooperation with Moscow in an attempt to stem the spread of jihadism. Relations between Mali and the UN, whose blue helmets have been present in the country since 2013, have also deteriorated in recent weeks. The spokesperson for Minusma, Olivier Salgado, was notably expelled for having published “unacceptable information” the day after the arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers in Bamako on July 10. The suspension of rotations of Minusma contingents was announced four days after their arrest.
These tensions come as, on the ground, the Malian army has just suffered serious setbacks. Thus, on August 10, 42 Malian soldiers were killed by jihadists in Tessit, in the south-east of the country.