On Monday, the US State Department expressed its regret over the decision of the military regime in Mali to ask the United Nations to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the West African country.
On Friday, Malian Foreign Minister Abdallah Diop called on the Minusma multinational force to immediately leave the country, which is facing a jihadist insurgency.
“The United States regrets the decision of the Transitional Government of Mali to withdraw its approval of MINUSMA,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, adding: “We are concerned about the implications of this decision for the security and humanitarian crises affecting the Malian people. .”
The United Nations Integrated and Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Mali, or MINUSMA, was established in 2013 to replace another African-led mission when Mali was still under the control of an Islamic uprising that continues today.
The UN mission has been criticized for its failure to protect civilians from attacks despite deploying a force of more than 12,000 soldiers with an annual budget of $1.26 billion.
Mali has been under military rule since the August 2020 coup, but since 2012 it has been facing jihadist and separatist uprisings in the north.
Source: AFP.