Ivory Coast announces gradual withdrawal of ‘mercenaries’ from Mali

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) – The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Ivory Coast to the UN will gradually withdraw military and police personnel engaged in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), according to a letter from Ivorian authorities.

“The handover of the Protection Company based in Mopti as well as the deployment of major police officers scheduled for October and November 2022,” will no longer be carried out, says the letter.

The document has been addressed to the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

The withdrawal will be conducted in an “orderly and secure” manner, according to the plan of the UN office approved by the Ivorian government.

The government has promised to redeploy troops withdrawn from Mali to other UN peacekeeping missions without, however, providing details on the reasons for the withdrawal.

Diplomatic relations between Mali and Ivory Coast have recently been marked by tensions surrounding the arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers in Mali.

The Malian transitional government made the arrests on July 10, accusing the soldiers of being mercenaries.

Ivorian authorities denied the accusations and said the soldiers were traveling to Mali as part of the National Support Element (NSE) operations.

More than 600 Ivorian peacekeepers are deployed in Mali, according to the Ivorian General Staff.

The UK has also announced withdrawal of about 250 of its troops deployed in Mali since 2020 as part of the French “counter terrorism” operation.

European and Western nations led by France have been actively involved in so-called “anti terrorism” interventionist military operations in Mali and other parts of Muslim North Africa.