Last Bundeswehr soldiers have left Mali
The withdrawal has been a long time coming, now it is complete: The last Bundeswehr soldiers have left Mali and will return to Germany later this week. The Malian government exerted pressure on the UN troops beforehand. Instead, it is relying on a controversial partner.
The Bundeswehr has ended its UN mission in the West African country of Mali after more than a decade. The last German soldiers from the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission left their camp at Camp Castor on the outskirts of Gao airport. They were on their way to a stopover on the Atlantic coast and were not due to land at Wunstorf Air Base 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 the most dangerous deployment. In 2017, two German pilots died when their Tiger combat helicopter crashed in Mali. In addition, a total of twelve 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 in the UN mission over the years.
The field camp was handed over this Tuesday before departure to Mali. 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.
Mali to rely on Russian mercenaries in future
Mali's military government had demanded the withdrawal of all 12,000 UN peacekeepers in mid-June and had previously expanded its 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. According to the Bundeswehr, around 160 of the original 1000 soldiers were still in Mali at the beginning of the week. 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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Following the withdrawal of German troops, the Malian government is turning to alternative sources for security. They have strengthened their partnership with Russia, bringing in Russian mercenaries to assist in future military operations. This decision has caused international concern, as the United Nations has accused Malian soldiers and Russian mercenaries of committing human rights violations, leading to the UN Security Council's initiation to end the MINUSMA mission. Despite Germany's decision to withdraw its federal armed forces from the mission, tensions remain high in the region, with a German military convoy currently stuck in customs clearance on the bordering Nigerien side.
Source: www.ntv.de
