2023-11-02 10:26:00
Several peacekeepers from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (Minusma), in the process of withdrawing from the country, were “seriously injured” Wednesday, November 1 when their convoy was the victim of an improvised explosive device, said a UN spokesperson. On Tuesday, Minusma soldiers left their camp in Kidal, in a long convoy of dozens of vehicles towards Gao, a large city in the northeast of the country about 350 kilometers away.
“Today we just learned that the convoy hit an improvised explosive device”, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, told the press. Of the “preliminary information” report “several peacekeepers seriously injured”he added.
Read also: The peacekeepers leave Mali in haste and under threat
Minusma later clarified on its X account (formerly Twitter) that eight peacekeepers had been injured, all evacuated to Gao. “Today’s attack follows two similar incidents yesterday in which two peacekeepers were slightly injured” and treated on site, lamented Mr. Dujarric. This convoy is the last to leave Kidal to reach the Minusma base in Gao, “in extremely difficult security conditions”.
An unprecedented hasty withdrawal
The convoy thus “was forced to leave without air support due to the lack of flight authorization from the Malian authorities, which increases the risks for our peacekeepers who have to travel hundreds of kilometers in dangerous territories”insisted the spokesperson, once again calling for the “full cooperation” of Bamako for the withdrawal of Minusma.
The Malian junta demanded in June the departure ” without delay “ peacekeepers, forcing the UN Security Council to initiate an unprecedented hasty withdrawal, which must be completed by the end of the year.
Read also: The UN withdraws from Mali, the junta denounces “betrayal” and accuses France
Minusma, constrained by the deterioration in security between all the armed actors vying for control of the field (separatists, jihadists, regular army), accelerated its withdrawal to the great irritation of the junta. It left its positions in Kidal without waiting for the army to arrive, allowing the Tuareg-dominated separatist rebellion to take control and outpace the Malian army in the race for territory between the central state and armed groups in the north of the country.
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