2023-10-19 20:25:22
The junta in power in Mali denounced on Wednesday October 18 a “umpteenth betrayal” about the ongoing and tense withdrawal of the UN mission from the country, accusing France of trying to accelerate it to favor jihadist groups.
The colonels who came to power by force in 2020 demanded and obtained from the Security Council in June, after months of deterioration in relations with the UN mission, the departure of Minusma deployed since 2013 in this country prey to jihadism and a deep multidimensional crisis.
Minusma criticized by authorities and rebels
Minusma must have left the country by December 31. It has already transferred four of the camps it occupied to the Malian authorities, and must free several others in the days or weeks to come in the Kidal region (north). This departure has exacerbated rivalries for control of territory between armed actors vying for control of vast areas of northern Mali.
Tuareg-dominated separatist groups have resumed hostilities against the central state and the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda, has increased attacks against military positions. The progress of its withdrawal, a large-scale operation carried out under the threat of attacks, has earned Minusma criticism from both the authorities and the rebels.
Minusma began to withdraw from its Tessalit and Aguelhok camps in the Kidal region at the beginning of the week, in a climate of high tension. On Thursday, a Tunisian C130 cargo plane chartered by Minusma came under fire during its landing in Tessalit without causing any damage, airport sources on site indicated. The information was confirmed locally by a member of the United Nations.
“Another betrayal”
A senior Minusma official, El Hadj Ibrahima Dieng, acknowledged in a video broadcast Tuesday evening by Malian state television that “the evolution of the security situation on the ground” required “an accelerated procedure” which, he specified, will be carried out “in consultation with all parties”. However, a change in the calendar disrupts the plans of the Malian army around the liberation of Minusma’s influence, which it intends not to leave to armed groups. The spokesperson for the Malian government, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, reacted by accusing the former French ally of working so that Minusma accelerates the movement.
“The French junta is sparing no effort to scare away Minusma, instead of an orderly withdrawal”he said in a statement read Wednesday evening by state television. “The objectives of this orchestrated flight, under the pretext of fallacious reasons and in violation of the timetable for ceding control to the Malian authorities, constitute yet another betrayal of which the Armed and Security Forces of Mali are victims and aim to equip terrorist groups, in deliberately abandoning significant quantities of weapons and ammunition to achieve their nefarious purpose”he said, without it being clear to whom the accusation of treason is addressed.
Minusma warned Monday that it may have to destroy or decommission equipment “sensitive” which she could not have evacuated. Asked by AFP, Minusma did not react immediately. The colonels broke the military alliance with France in 2022 and designated the former colonial and then allied power as responsible for a large part of its ills.
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