MADRID, 17 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United States on Wednesday asked the Malian government to help the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in its withdrawal from the country, which has been hampered by the latest attacks against its convoys.
“It is critical that MINUSMA is allowed to carry out its withdrawal in a safe and orderly manner, and we call on the transitional government to cooperate fully until the last element of MINUSMA leaves. We urge all parties to facilitate the drawdown , withdrawal and liquidation of MINUSMA,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the threat of worsening violence in Mali as MINUSMA begins its withdrawal. Attacks as recent as the one on August 13, which caused several injuries among peacekeepers, put highlight that threat and the importance of all Malian parties resolving their differences peacefully and in accordance with the 2015 Algiers Peace Agreement,” added Miller.
In addition, he has described as “unacceptable” these attacks against the mission, which has tried to speed up its departure from the country due to the escalation of violence experienced in recent weeks.
This same Wednesday, a mission convoy suffered an attack in which no damage was reported, unlike the attacks last Sunday, when the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), a branch of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Mali caused at least three ‘blue helmets’ injured in Timbuktu and one dead in Gao.
MINUSMA has been in an extremely precarious situation for months in Mali, immersed in an exit plan due to the rejection of the military coup junta, close to Russia, and by a large part of the population. After leaving the Ogossagou base, in the center of the country, the ‘blue helmets’ had given themselves until the end of the month to leave their outlying camps in Ber and Goundam.
However, the clashes between the Tuareg rebel coalition and the Malian Army — in which members of the Russian Wagner mercenary group also participate — have ended up shortening the deadlines, for which the UN mission announced its withdrawal on Sunday. “anticipated” of Ber “due to the deterioration of security in the area”.
The immediate departure of MINUSMA threatens to further worsen the crisis in northern Mali, after the former Tuareg rebel coalition announced its departure from Bamako “for security reasons”, a move that appears to further distance the breakaway region from Azawad of the Mali transitional authorities.
The former rebel groups that signed the 2015 peace agreement for the north of the country launched a joint operation against the Islamic State in February both due to the upsurge in jihadist attacks and the lack of involvement of the Malian military and the mercenaries of the Wagner Group. .
