The Ivory Coast government has decided to withdraw its troops from the United Nation’s peacekeeping operations in Mali, a move coinciding with Britain’s announcement to quit the mission, reported The Reuters.
According to a letter by an Ivory Coast ambassador to the U.N., Ivorian troops would withdraw from Mali by August 2023.
“By order of the government of Ivory Coast, the permanent mission confirms the progressive withdrawal of Ivorian military personnel and police deployed with MINUSMA,” says the letter sent to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.
The letter added that rotations of Ivorian forces scheduled in October and November this year will no longer take place. It, however, did not give any explanation for the pull-out.
Notably, Ivory Coast and Mali’s ruling junta are already locked in a dispute since 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested upon arrival at the Bamako airport on July 10 and branded mercenaries.
Three soldiers have since been released but the rest are still in custody on charges of attempting to harm state security. Bamako accuses them of being mercenaries, while Abidjan claims that they were supposed to participate in the security of the German contingent of Blue Helmets in Mali.
Mali has witnessed two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021, and is led by Colonel Assimi Goïta.
The country has been heavily dependent on regional allies and peacekeepers to contain an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and taken control over large areas of the centre and north.
On Monday, Britain announced its decision to cut short the deployment of 300 troops with MINUSMA after relations with the junta soured due to its link with Kremlin-linked Wagner Group.
France also pulled out the last of its forces out of the country in August, ending a more-than nine-year commitment in the fight against the jihadists.
