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- There's a little over two months left for a 13 000-strong UN peacekeeping force to evacuate Mali.
- Russia's paramilitary Wagner Group is reportedly standing ready to replace the UN mission.
- If the UN force moves too quickly and leaves equipment behind, that could end up in the wrong hands.
In just over two months, almost 13 000 UN uniformed peacekeepers are meant to leave Mali after a 10-year mission that saw the deaths of at least 300 peacekeepers.
But the "Blue Helmets", as UN peacekeepers are nicknamed, are finding it increasingly risky to wind up operations in northern Mali because of inroads being made by armed groups taking advantage of the transition.
In a note to journalists, the UN Secretary-General's office said the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) might fail to leave the country by 31 December as agreed, if the security situation doesn't improve.
"This situation also jeopardises the air operations conducted by the mission to protect its drawdown and enable its withdrawal," the UN said.
MINUSMA operates 12 fully equipped camps and one temporary camp in the country.
READ | Mali in meltdown as militants advance and UN withdraws
By the end of December, the camps will be handed over to the Mali regime. However, there are concerns that, with the ongoing instability, MINUSMA could leave behind equipment that is meant to be redeployed to other crisis hotspots on the continent or back to countries that contributed to them.
The UN said:
Since late September, the organisation said, the mission's logistics convoys have been blocked from moving from Gao to retrieve equipment in Aguelhok, Tessalit and Kidal.
In June this year, the UN approved a further R11.2 billion ($590 million) to keep MINUSMA running until year-end.
The Mali mission has been the most expensive in Africa for the UN.
It ran at a cost of R22.8 billion ($1.2 billion) per year.
The Security Council established MINUSMA in accordance with Resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013 to assist with the political processes taking place in Mali and perform various security-related duties.
MINUSMA's departure was initiated by Mali's military transition authority, which opted to enlist Russia's paramilitary Wagner Group.
On Saturday, reports indicated that the Wagner Group was already positioning itself to take over areas that the MINUSMA was withdrawing from.
In response to concerns raised by the UN that it might fail to leave before 31 December, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdoulaye Diop said in a video posted on X that all should be done on time and the government would not guarantee room for extension.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation
