2023-12-11 12:49:26
Soldiers carrying the flags of Mali and the United Nations (UN) on May 29, 2018 in Bamako, Mali. MICHELE CATTANI / AFP
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (Minusma) officially ended on Monday, December 11, ten years of deployment in this country prey to jihadism and a deep crisis after being pushed towards the exit by the ruling junta, noted correspondents from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Minusma lowered the United Nations flag on its headquarters near the airport in the capital Bamako, its spokesperson Fatoumata Kaba also told AFP. The ceremony underway Monday morning symbolically marks the end of the mission, even if some of its elements are still on site, she said.
The closure puts an end to a commitment begun in 2013 in the face of the spread of violence which threatened the stability of the state, poor and fragile. They have since spread to the center of the country and the Sahelian neighbors of Burkina Faso and Niger, thousands of civilians and combatants have died and millions of people have been displaced.
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With more than 180 members killed in hostile acts mainly perpetrated by armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization, Minusma is the UN peace mission hardest hit in recent years. Its numbers were around 15,000 soldiers and police officers from a multitude of countries.
Despite the human losses and a considerable financial commitment, Minusma was the subject of strong criticism from some Malians, who denounced its inability to stem the crisis.
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