The United Kingdom announced on Monday the early withdrawal of its troops deployed with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, citing the ruling junta’s use of Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
“The UK contingent will … be leaving the MINUSMA mission earlier than planned,” Armed Forces Secretary James Heappey told the House of Commons.
“We should be clear that responsibility for all of this sits in Bamako,” he added, referring to the junta’s rapprochement with the “Russian mercenary group Wagner,” said to be close to the Moscow regime.
“The Malian government’s partnership with Wagner group is counterproductive to lasting stability and security in their region,” Heappey stressed. The British government “cannot deploy our nation’s military to provide security when the host country’s government is not willing to work with us to deliver lasting stability and security,” he insisted.
The withdrawal should be completed by May
Nearly 300 British soldiers have been in Mali since the end of 2020, as part of the deployment of MINUSMA, aimed in particular at stabilising the security situation in a country plagued by jihadist attacks.
The commitment was supposed to last for three years, but faced with rising instability in Mali, London has decided to bring forward the withdrawal of its troops, who should leave the country within the next six months, according to the Ministry of Defence.
France, the main country intervening militarily in Mali, and its European partners had announced their withdrawal in February. The last French soldiers left Mali this summer, after nearly a decade of intervention.
