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Bundeswehr soldiers during the visit of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Mali
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
The United Nations Security Council has decided to extend the UN mission in Mali (Minusma) by another year - even without French air support.
On Wednesday in New York, 13 of the 15 member states of the most important UN body voted to extend the mission until the end of June 2023.
Russia and China abstained.
The number of emergency services – almost 13,300 soldiers and 1,920 police officers – remains unchanged.
Up to 1,400 Bundeswehr soldiers are involved in the UN mission in Mali, which began in 2013.
The mission is considered the most dangerous of the Bundeswehr.
Although the Bundestag had extended the mandate for the Minusma mission by a year in May, a withdrawal clause was also agreed if local security can no longer be guaranteed.
French attack helicopters are soon missing from the UN mission
The background is the announced withdrawal of France from Mali.
As a result, combat helicopters in particular are missing from the mission.
A week ago, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) did not rule out a withdrawal of the Bundeswehr from the UN mission in Mali if the United Nations could no longer guarantee the “best possible protection” of German soldiers.
Mali has been plagued by jihadist violence for years.
An Islamist uprising began in the country in 2012 and spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Several thousand soldiers and civilians have already been killed in the conflict and two million people have been displaced from their homes.
Mali's poorly equipped army, which has been led by a military government since 2020, has repeatedly been accused of human rights abuses.
Just last week, according to the military government in Mali, radical Islamists killed a total of 132 civilians in several attacks.
Among other things, three villages in the Mopti region were attacked by members of the Katiba Macina group, according to a government statement, as reported by the Reuters news agency.
According to the United Nations, the fighters of the Islamist militia linked to the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda are also responsible for dozens of attacks and ambushes against Malian soldiers.
muk/AFP/Reuters