UK announces withdrawal from Mali

The British government announced on Monday the early withdrawal of its military contingent currently deployed in Mali as part of the UN mission to the country.

Behind the decision is the ruling junta's use of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the commitment was supposed to last three years, but faced with the rising instability in the country, London decided to anticipate the withdrawal of its troops, who should leave the country in the next six months.

France, the main country intervening militarily in Mali, notably through the Barkhane force, alongside its European partners announced in February their withdrawal from the country. The last French soldiers left Mali this summer, after nearly a decade.

Almost 300 British soldiers have been in Mali since the end of 2020, as part of the deployment of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country launched in 2013 (Minusma, Ed.), aimed in particular at stabilising the security situation in a country plagued by jihadist attacks.