United Nations Police (UNPOL) Officers from Benin serving with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and Malian National Guard Officer conduct daily joint patrols in the streets of Gao, to ensure general security, maintain order and offer protection of civilians.   Photo MINUSMA/Marco Dormino

By Gary Raynaldo   / DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS –   The UN condemned on Wednesday with “the utmost energy”, terrorists attacks on military camps in central Mali that left at least 25 soldiers dead and  many missing.  The Malian Government reported  the deadly attacks began Sunday in an incursion against a Malian battalion of the regional G5 Sahel Force in Boulkessi, and also a Malian army base in Mondoro. 

“Our colleagues in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said today they are dismayed by the toll of the simultaneous terrorist attacks on a Malian G5 Sahel unit position in Boulkessi and the Malian Armed Forces in Mondoro, that took place on 30 September and 1 October 2019 in central Mali. The Mission condemns with the utmost energy these attacks, following a General Assembly session where security in Mali and the Sahel was given an important place on the agenda of several high‑level meetings attended by Heads of State of the region.”

 -Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary‑General

United Nations Hosts High-Level Meeting On Mali and the Sahel 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo / UN High-Level Meeting on Mali and the Sahel at world headquarters in New York Sept. 25, 2019. 

The deadly terror attacks took place literally days after the UN hosted a high-level meeting on Mali and the Sahel on the margins of last week’s annual General Assemble debate at world headquarters in New York.  The meeting was attended by the Secretary-General of the  UN, Antonio Guterres, with the President of the Republic of Mali, H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and the President of Burkina Faso, H.E. Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who is also President of the G5 Sahel; and several foreign ministers from Algeria, France, Germany, as well as U.S. officials.   Terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa SAHEL  region have increased dramatically during the past few years.  The main African countries on the front lines in the battle against terrorism in the dangerous Sahel region are Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso. They are part of the G5 Sahel Joint Force and the Sahel Alliance. Frustration is mounting among African leaders as there seems to be no end to deadly terror and ethnic attacks across the Sahel.  Participants at last week’s High-Level  UN meeting, expressed serious concern about the rising levels of violence, the increasing number of civilian casualties, and worsening humanitarian situation.

Credit: UN photo / /Ariana Lindquist /   Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, President of Mali, speaks at the high-level meeting on Mali and the Sahel on margins of UN General Assembly Session Sept. 25, 2019 at world headquarters New  York. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Malian Government to brief on the implementation of the priority measures listed in a previously determined Security Council resolution (2480).

“As I have said in the beginning, the situation in the Sahel has become a regional threat. I am encouraged by the renewed engagement of the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), who committed at an extraordinary session earlier this month to step up efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel.”

-Secretary-General of the  UN, Antonio Guterres said. 

UN Secretary-General Guterres stressed that there is a shortfall of funds disbursed for the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel. He said that as of this year, just one fifth of the necessary humanitarian funds have been received so far. The UN Secretary-General added that a significant portion of the $2.3 Billion pledged last December for the G5 Sahel Priority Investment Plan has not yet been disbursed. 

Militant groups in the SAHEL have grown more active.  Events linked to militant Islamist activity, including al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) affiliates and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), collectively tripled in 2018, to 464 violent episodes from 192 the year prior, according to the Africa Center For Strategic Studies.   Overall, militant Islamist groups in Africa engaged in 3,050 violent events in 2018—a record level of activity.