Credit / UN.ORG / MINUSMA/Marco Dormino /  UN Blue Helmets/  Officers patrol the streets of Gao, Mali  as part of the UN MINUSMA peacekeeping mission.  Mali is considered  the world’s most dangerous UN missions, with nearly 130 blue helmets killed in the past six years.

By Gary  Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS   –   NEW  YORK –  The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) peacekeeping operation in west Africa will continue operating according to its mandate despite French President Emmanuel Macron  ending Operation Barkhane, an offensive against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel.  France has  some 5,100 troops in the Sahel  on the front lines of  counter-terror operations during the past eight years.  Macron told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that he had told regional leaders that France would not support countries where there was no democratic legitimacy or transition, and that France had no intention of keeping its troops in Africa forever, according to BBC News.  Many fear, if France walks away from the Sahel, the entire region could come under the influence of Islamist militants.  

“We are aware of the announcement made by the French.  I mean, the Operation Barkhane and MINUSMA have, you know, we could say complementary but very different mandates.  MINUSMA will continue to operate according to its mandate.  And, as you’ve seen, there has been absolutely no weakening of its posture, especially in the northern parts, as well as in the kind of the tri-country area, which has seen such a high level of violence against civilians.  Our call continues to be for the international community to support the people of Mali and the people of the Sahel Region to give the G5-Sahel force predictable and sustained funding.  And we will continue to work in that direction.”

-Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General  said June 21, 2021

(Credit:  Gary Raynaldo  ©Diplomatic Times)   Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General,  briefs reporters  at UN world headquarters in New York, NY June 21, 2021.

Mission In West Africa Nation Mali The Most Dangerous In The World For UN Peacekeepers 

Four peacekeepers from Chad were killed in April. There are about 15,000 peacekeeping troops serving in MINUSMA. 

Today, MINUSMA is the deadliest mission to serve in as a UN ‘blue helmet’ with nearly 200  paying the ultimate sacrifice, since it was established in 2013. In 2019 alone, the number of fatalities stands at 15, according to the  UN. 

Meanwhile, the terror threat in Mali continues unabated despite a massive deployment UN peacekeepers and  French troops tasked with halting jihadist’s attacks. There have been  25 French soldiers confirmed killed since the start of Operation Barkhane.

Last week,   the  United Nations called on authorities in troubled west African nation Mali to take immediate action to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections as the security situation worsens.   The UN Security Council met to discuss the derailing of Mali’s transitional government following the apparent forced departure of both the President and Prime Minister last month, by the leader of last August’s military coup.  El-Ghassim Wane,  Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)  briefed the 15-member body via video-conference in the wake of a coup d’état in the landlocked West African country on 24 May – the second in nine months – that cast a shadow over efforts to restore an elected democratic government. 

“Mali is at a critical juncture and we cannot allow it to slide into further instability, with drastic consequences for the sub-region and beyond.”

-El-Ghassim Wane,  Head of UN MINUSMA

The United Nations, EU, U.S. and the African Union have strongly denounced the “kidnapping” of Mali’s civilian leadership.  Transitional vice-president Colonel Assimi Goïta, a leader of the August 2020 coup, announced  that he had taken power. In a statement read on national television, Goïta maintained that he had not been consulted in the government reshuffle and blamed N’Daw and Ouane for nationwide strikes and protests.