Ivory Coast says it will withdraw from the UN’s peacekeeping operations in troubled Mali, a move coinciding with Britain’s announcement that it will quit the mission. A letter to the MINUSMA mission seen by AFP Tuesday said that Ivorian troops would withdraw by August 2023. It gave no explanation for the pullout, but Ivory Coast and Mali’s junta are locked in a months-long dispute over the detention of Ivorian troops at Bamako airport.
“By order of the government of Ivory Coast, the permanent mission confirms the progressive withdrawal of Ivorian military personnel and police deployed with MINUSMA,” says the letter sent to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.
Rotations of Ivorian forces scheduled in October and November this year will no longer take place, the letter adds. The rotations were to apply to a protection unit based in Mopti, to police and to military officers assigned to headquarters duties. Troops and other personnel deployed in MINUSMA will not be relieved next August as scheduled, it added.
– Troops row – No official reason for the decision was given but tensions between Abidjan and Bamako have soared since 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested upon arrival at Mali’s airport on July 10 and branded mercenaries.Three have since been released but the rest have been kept in custody on charges of attempting to harm state security. Abidjan insists the soldiers were sent as backup for MINUSMA. Several mediation efforts are underway to resolve the crisis, and in early October Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara had said the situation was developing “well.” On Monday, Britain announced Monday it would cut short the deployment of 300 troops with MINUSMA after relations with the junta soured.
Three have since been released but the rest have been kept in custody on charges of attempting to harm state security. Abidjan insists the soldiers were sent as backup for MINUSMA. Several mediation efforts are underway to resolve the crisis, and in early October Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara had said the situation was developing “well.” On Monday, Britain announced Monday it would cut short the deployment of 300 troops with MINUSMA after relations with the junta soured.
