The US State Department said Monday it “regrets” the Mali military regime’s decision to call for the United Nations to withdraw its peacekeeping force from the West African country.
Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop called on Friday for the immediate withdrawal of the multinational force from the nation, which is fighting a jihadist insurgency.
“The United States regrets the transition government of Mali’s decision to revoke its consent for MINUSMA,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
“We are concerned about the effects this decision will have on the security and humanitarian crises impacting the Malian people,” he added.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, or Minusma, was created in 2013, taking over from an African-led mission as Mali was in the grip of an Islamist rebellion that continues today.
It has been criticised for its inability to protect civilians from jihadist attacks, despite deploying a force of more than 12,000 soldiers and having an annual budget of $1.26 billion.
Mali has been under military rule since an August 2020 coup — and has been battling a security crisis since jihadist and separatist insurgencies broke out in the north in 2012.
The country’s military rulers have increasingly imposed operational restrictions on peacekeepers and also broke Mali’s longstanding alliance with former colonial power France.
It is up to the Security Council to decide on the future of the mission, whose mandate expires at the end of the month. A vote is scheduled for June 29.
UN chief Antonio Guterres in January put forward three options for amending the mission, from an increase in personnel to a withdrawal of troops.
After Diop’s comments, Minusma head El Ghassim Wane told reporters that conducting UN peacekeeping operations was “nearly impossible” without the consent of the host country.
Miller said the United States “extends its full support” to the mission, adding that its “drawdown must be orderly and responsible, prioritizing the safety and security of peacekeepers and Malians.”