UN mission in West Africa - Bundeswehr ends mission in Mali - last soldiers leave the country
The Bundeswehr has ended its UN mission in the West African country of Mali after more than a decade. The last German soldiers of the Minusma peacekeeping mission left their camp Camp Castor on the outskirts of Gao airport on Tuesday, security sources told the German Press Agency in Berlin. They were on their way to a stopover on the Atlantic coast and were not due to land at Wunstorf airbase in Lower Saxony until later in the week.
This marks the end of the Bundeswehr's second major deployment outside Europe in Mali after Afghanistan. The mission in West Africa was recently considered the most dangerous deployment. In 2017, two German pilots died when their Tiger combat helicopter crashed in Mali. In addition, a total of 12 German soldiers were wounded in a suicide attack in 2021. According to the Bundeswehr, a total of around 20,000 German blue helmets have been deployed to the UN mission over the years.
The field camp was handed over to Mali on Tuesday before departure. It has been the center of the German contribution to the UN troops in recent years. At the beginning of the week, there were still only a few German soldiers in the previous Minusma headquarters in the capital Bamako. The UN peacekeeping mission had already held a formal closing ceremony there on Monday. According to the UN, blue helmets from 53 countries were involved in the mission.
End of UN mission in Mali: military regime demands withdrawal of all peacekeepers
Mali's military government had demanded the withdrawal of all 12,000 UN peacekeepers in mid-June and had previously increased cooperation with Russia. Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop accused the blue helmets of having become "part of the problem" instead of having responded adequately to the security situation. A UN report published in May stated that hundreds of civilians had been killed in Mali the previous year during an operation by Malian soldiers and alleged Russian mercenaries.
The UN Security Council then initiated an end to Minusma. Germany had already decided to end its participation in the mission. At the beginning of the week, around 160 of the original 1000 soldiers were still in Mali, according to the Bundeswehr. A further 120 men and women were at the Niamey air base in neighboring Niger.
The German withdrawal took months and was made more difficult after there was a military coup in Niger, which borders Mali, and the previously good relations became more complicated.
On the Nigerien side of the border with Mali, a transport convoy with German military goods from Gao is currently stuck in customs clearance. Military equipment has been left behind in the field camp in Gao, which is yet to be brought back home on a second transport by a civilian company.
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- The German withdrawal from the UN mission in Mali was influenced by Mali's military government, which had increased cooperation with Russia and demanded the withdrawal of all peacekeepers.
- The federal armed forces' involvement in Mali was considered the most dangerous deployment for German soldiers, resulting in two German pilot deaths and several injuries.
- Despite the challenging withdrawal due to a military coup in Niger, the German Press Agency reported that the last German soldiers of the Minusma peacekeeping mission had departed from the Atlantic coast, heading towards Wunstorf airbase in Lower Saxony.
- The field camp in Gao, which had been the center of the German contribution to the UN troops in recent years, was handed over to Mali before departure.
- The UN mission in West Africa, involving blue helmets from 53 countries, faced criticism for being perceived as part of the problem rather than adequately responding to the security situation, according to Mali's foreign minister.
Source: www.stern.de
