Mali: Military arrests UN security guards at Bamako airport

Enlarge image

Soldier of the Malian Army on a street in Bamako (May 2021 photo)

Photo: Nicolas Remene / Le Pictorium / IMAGO

The military government in the West African crisis-ridden state of Mali has arrested the crew at a UN force Minusma camp at Bamako airport.

The men from neighboring Ivory Coast flew to Mali as an exchange contingent for another unit, the dpa news agency reported, citing German military circles.

The case is being investigated and has never been used before.

The day before, the government in Bamako announced that it had arrested 49 soldiers from the neighboring country as "mercenaries".

They landed in the capital Bamako on Sunday with weapons, ammunition and military equipment without permission.

The soldiers were said to have "illegally entered Mali territory".

According to Mali's military government, an attempted coup was planned.

Lambrecht expresses “considerable doubts”

Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) clearly criticized the Malian leadership after the incident.

»The behavior of the Malian rulers is a very problematic signal.

Here - unfortunately again - considerable doubts are appropriate as to whether Mali still has any interest in constructive cooperation within the framework of MINUSMA," Lambrecht told the dpa.

"I call on those responsible in Mali to release the Ivorian soldiers immediately."

The Ivorian government had already announced on Tuesday evening that the soldiers were regular members of the army who had arrived as part of the UN mission.

Since an agreement between the UN and Ivory Coast in July 2019, there have been a total of seven quota changes, which have so far always been without incident, the Ivorians said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mali, with around 20 million inhabitants, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered to be extremely unstable politically.

Since the most recent coup in May, the country has been led by a transitional military government that has been criticized for its close ties to Russia.

The military junta has promised elections by the end of March 2024.

Islamist terrorist groups, which repeatedly carry out deadly attacks and raids, have been troubling the crisis-ridden state for years.

The Bundeswehr is still involved in the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA in Mali.

However, the European training mission EUTM is to be largely stopped because the Malian government recently failed to provide adequate security guarantees.

At the beginning of July, two peacekeepers were killed in a mine explosion in Mali and five others were injured.

fek/dpa/Reuters