Credit: /UN_MINUSMA /Harandane Dicko /  MINUSMA Peacekeeping troops based in Kidal in the extreme north of Mali.

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The cycle of deadly violence continues in west Africa nation Mali, just days after its Prime Minister resigned along with the entire government over a failure  to  stem the tide in ethnic and  jihadist killings.  This weekend, a United Nations peacekeeper from Egypt was killed and four others injured in an improvised explosive device attack on a convoy in central Mali’s Mopti region,  the U.N. mission in the country said. The attack, which wounded four others, may constitute a war crime, the UN Chief said Saturday. Mali’s Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga resigned last Thursday along with  all of his Cabinet, as public protests mounted over the government’s failiure to stem ethnic violence.  On Wednesday, a motion of no confidence was submitted as MPs blamed the Prime Minister for failing to handle the unrest.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement on Saturday night in New York, giving details of the deadly bombing, which took place against a convoy of vehicles in central Mali, close to the border with Burkina Faso, belonging to the U.N. Mission, MINUSMA. The vehicles were en route between Douentza and Boni, in the Mopti region, according to the statement. 

“MINUSMA peacekeepers responded, killing an assailant and apprehending eight others,”  said the UN chief, in the message issued by his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.  “The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the family of the victim and to the Government of Egypt. He wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.” Attacks “targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law”, the statement continued, and Mr. Guterres called on the Malian authorities to take “swift action to identify the perpetrators of this attack and bring them to justice.”

Secretary-General @antonioguterres condemns this morning's attack against a @UN_MINUSMA convoy in #Mali's #Mopti region in which one Egyptian peacekeeper was killed and 4 others wounded 👉 https://t.co/em6DUi25b7 pic.twitter.com/vW7XAES1E5

— MINUSMA (@UN_MINUSMA) April 20, 2019

Attacks “targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law”, the statement continued, and Guterres called on the Malian authorities to take “swift action to identify the perpetrators of this attack and bring them to justice.”

FRANCE Condemns Mali Attack 

“France utterly condemns the attack that killed an Egyptian MINUSMA peacekeeper in the Mopti region on April 20. It condemns with equal force the attack that left 11 Malian soldiers dead in the village of Guire on April 20.  It extends its condolences to the families of the soldiers who were killed.  It reaffirms its support for the Malian authorities in their fight against terrorism, as well as for MINUSMA, which has a key role to play in Mali’s stabilization. “

-France Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson.

Mission In West Africa Nation Mali  Is Deadliest In The World For UN Peacekeepers

Les contingents du Niger et du Bangladesh lors d’une opération militaire à Ansongo. /  Photo MINUSMA/Marco Dormino

Since 2013 when MINUSMA deployed,  more than 190 peacekeepers have died in Mali, including close to 120 killed during hostilities.  The deadly violence has spiraled out of control this year, in particular , with no end in sight despite the presence of thousands of U.N. and international peacekeeping troops in Mali, and across the Sahel  region. 

The latest violence was a horrific  massacre on March 23 in which 160 people were killed in the village of Ogossagou near the border with Burkina Faso.  This attack was the single deadliest in Mali since the conflict in the country’s north with separatist groups and a jihadi insurgency in 2012.

MINUSMA continues to be targeted by terrorist organisations

In January, ten Chadian peacekeepers died after an attack on the MINUSMA camp in Aguelhok, and two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were killed in an attack on a convoy in Mopti. On 22 February, three Guinean peacekeepers were killed in an attack against the vehicle in which they were travelling near Siby (region of Bamako).  On March 17, a terror attack on an army camp in central Mali killed 21 soldiers after assailants attacked a Malian armed forces camp in Dioura in north‑west Mopti town in the centre of the country.   A  Mali-based al-Qaeda affiliate said it had carried out that   attack. 

 The Security Council mission met with Mali Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga  March 23 to discuss the  the increased threat from jihadist fighters in central Mali, the very same day the horrific village attack occurred. 

MINUSMA was established in Mali by Security Council resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013 to support political processes in that country and carry out a number of security-related tasks. In 2012, Islamist radicals linked to al-Qaeda hijacked an uprising by ethnic Tuareg people and went on to seize cities across northern Mali, holding on for nearly a year until they were forced out by a French military intervention, according to the Washington Post. When the 11,000 U.N. troops arrived in 2013, they were meant to protect a fledgling peace deal and train the Malian army. But Islamist extremists regrouped across the region. It did not take long before the militants started targeting peacekeepers, whom they dubbed “Crusader occupation forces.”

 MALI  IS CURRENTLY IN A CRISIS SITUATION DESPITE THOUSANDS OF FOREIGN TROOPS DEPLOYED 

Credit / Souleymane Ag Anara, AFP | United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

Since 2013, Mali, with the assistance of the U.N. and  international peacekeeping troops have failed to reign in the Islamist attacks and protect the countries civilians as deadly violence rages out of control at the moment.  It is no surprise it did not take long before the militants began targeting peacekeepers, whom they dubbed “Crusader occupation forces.”  Mali citizens, at the end of the day,  desire protection and not a massive military occupation that brings back memories of the Colonial days, especially with the presence of so many French Soldiers.  The terror threat in Mali continues unabated despite a massive deployment of French troops tasked with halting jihadist’s attacks. There have been 12 French soldiers confirmed killed since the start of Operation Barkhane, which was launched more than three years ago to quell jihadist activity in the former French colony of Mali and in neighbouring countries

Credit: www.aljazeera.com / Getty Images /  France’s 3,000 strong Operation Barkhane against armed groups in Africa’s Sahel region began in July 2014 

Source: European Parliamentary Research Service Blog. The brown strip is the region known as the Sahel, which runs east and west through large parts ofSenegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan,and into the Horn of Africa. The Sahel is the heart of France’s military counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane, which France claims is aimed at tackling the jihadist threat in that region.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA, which deploys 15,000 troops in the region,  is set to expire June 30, 2019, but will be extended.  Even so,  it is time for some serious,  deep reflection on this mission, and its effectiveness.