Liberian Soldiers to Leave Mali Soon
Liberian soldiers perform cold load drills with the Canadian Armed Forces as part of MINUSMA in Timbuktu, Mali during Operation PRESENCE-Mail on November 5, 2018.Photo: Corporal Ken Beliwicz
.... Liberian soldiers, who have done outstanding service in Mali, would be leaving along with their counterparts from other countries as the West African nation’s military rulers have become ‘tired’ of the military ‘failure of the UN peacekeeping Mission known as MINUSMA s
Authorities of the Armed Forces of Liberia may be forced to withdraw their peacekeeping mission from Mali anytime soon.
This comes as Mali has requested the United Nations to withdraw its peacekeeping mission from the country “without delay,” denouncing its “failure” to respond to security challenges.
Liberian soldiers, who have done outstanding service in Mali, would be leaving along with their counterparts from other countries as the West African nation’s military rulers have become ‘tired’ of the military ‘failure of the UN peacekeeping Mission known as MINUSMA s
The MINUSMA mission, which has been there to help stabilize the country after a Tuareg rebellion the previous year that gave rise to a continuing rebellion mandate, according to Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, is due to expire at the end of the month
El Ghassim Wane, the head of the UN mission in Mali, said after the meeting of the 15-member council that conducting UN peacekeeping operations was “nearly impossible” without the consent of the host country.
“It’s a decision that the council has to make,” he told reporters. “But the point I’m making — and I believe it’s a point that everyone agrees on — is that peacekeeping is based on the principle of consent from the host country and, absent that consent, of course, operations are nearly impossible.”
Wane’s remark comes after Mali Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, who is part of Mali’s interim military authorities, told a UN Security Council meeting on June 16 that the peacekeeping force known as MINUSMA should withdraw its troops from the West African nation.
The heartbreak news also comes nearly four months after Liberia’s Ministry of Defense had completed pre-deployment training for a new batch of soldiers, who were expected to be deployed in Mali. It is unclear whether that contingency has been deployed or not.
Liberia is the 60th largest contributor among all UN Member States with 162 soldiers in Mali —working in very challenging security conditions — and carrying out patrols to assess the security situation, deter violence against local communities, and also provide security to UN facilities.
One of its soldiers occupies the position of chief personnel of the MINUSMA mission and, in 2018, a Liberian officer served as the Senior Military Observer — making him 3rd in command — of the Mission.
The MINUSMA mission holds Liberia’s largest deployment but soldiers are serving the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council members are expected to vote to either adopt a resolution to extend MINUSMA’s mandate by June 30 or not. But this requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, or France to pass.
This comes as Mali’s military rulers have increasingly imposed operational restrictions on peacekeepers and also broken Mali’s longstanding alliance with former colonial power France.
“The government of Mali calls for the withdrawal without delay of MINUSMA,” said Diop.
“However, the government is willing to cooperate with the United Nations on this issue,” he added, rejecting all options for changing the mandate of the mission as proposed by the UN secretary-general.
In January, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres put forward three options for amending the mission, from an increase in personnel to a withdrawal of troops.
In a report published at the beginning of the week, he recommended an intermediate solution to the UN Security Council to “reconfigure” the operation to concentrate on a limited number of priorities.
More than 300 peacekeepers have been killed since the start of the mission in 2013, making it the deadliest UN mission in the world.
MINUSMA was set up to help stabilize the country after a Tuareg rebellion the previous year that gave rise to a continuing rebellion.
While rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.
Frustrations about the growing insecurity led to two coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021 and the ruling military government has been increasingly at loggerheads with MINUSMA and other international allies, including France.
“MINUSMA seems to have become part of the problem by fuelling community tensions exacerbated by extremely serious allegations which are highly detrimental to peace, reconciliation, and national cohesion in Mali,” said Diop.
“This situation generates a feeling of distrust among the populations with regard to MINUSMA,” he added, noting a recent damning report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on an anti-rebel operation in Moura in March 2022.Source:
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES