UN Withdraws Peacekeeping Forces In Mali, Becomes The Deadliest Mission After Lebanon

UN troops when leaving Mali. (Twitter/@UN_MINUSMA)

JAKARTA - The United Nations has completed the withdrawal of peacekeepers in Mali who are members of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) after a decade, when the number of personnel killed broke through 300 personnel and made it the deadliest UN mission after Lebanon.

In a statement the UN said the withdrawal process was completed on Sunday, with only a small team remaining in the country, to oversee the transportation of assets and disposal of UN-owned equipment.

"The funds, UN institutions and programs were already in Mali long before the deployment of MINUSMA and will remain in Mali after the troop withdrawal," said head of MINUSMA El-Ghassum Wane, as reported by Reuters on January 1.

The peacekeeping mission in Mali was launched in 2013, following a violent uprising by separatist rebels seeking control of the country's north and a military-led coup.

With about 310 peacekeepers killed, MINUSMA is the second-deadliest UN mission in the world, after the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), as quoted by the BBC.

In the summer, Mali authorities told the United Nations some 12,000 peacekeeping troops had to leave. The UN Security Council decided to withdraw the mission.

UN staff have been out of the country in stages for months, with a December 31 deadline for full recall.

On Friday, local media reported MINUSMA had handed over control of one of its last major camps in the northern region of Timbuktu before the specified deadline, for security reasons.

Timbuktu is one of three locations that should remain open to regulate the end of the mission after December 31, but the United Nations is concerned about the presence of militants, reports. El-Ghassim Wane said, "there is a gap between what is mandated to us and what we can do."

"We did a lot but what is certain is that it is under expectations and below the need," he said.

It is known that security in Mali is fragile, with the active ISIS group and its affiliates to the separatist movement.

Mali is excluded from the regional bloc of the Economic Community of West African countries, along with Guinea, Niger and Burkina Faso, all of which are also run by a military government that takes power through a coup.

Mali was led by military leaders after two coups in 2020 and 2021.

In September, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso created a defense pact called the Sahel State Alliance.