German military on Wednesday said it has resumed reconnaissance patrols in eastern Mali as part of a UN peacekeeping mission, reported The Africa News. The military operations were suspended last month when the Malian government denied flyover rights.
“Reconnaissance operations outside the city of Gao resumed yesterday, Tuesday,” a military spokeswoman said in a statement.
Notably, Germany provides more than 1,000 soldiers to the U.N. mission to Mali. Most German forces in Mali are based close to Gao.
Last month, the defense ministry said it had suspended reconnaissance and related operations after Mali’s ruling junta denied permission for flights to support rotation of the personnel under the UN’s MINUSMA mission.
The German government claimed that the flight was part of a troop rotation.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the German military said that a unit, which recently arrived in Gao, was fully ready to work, and had taken over the task of securing the camp.
Berlin had extended the deployment of its forces to Mali earlier this year, following a visit by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to the West African nation.
The rift between Mali and German government is another sign of tension between Mali’s military rulers and foreign military forces stationed in the African country to help stabilize the country. The long-running insurgency has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
The relationship between Bamako and Paris has deteriorated in recent months. France’s decision to pull its military forces out was taken mainly due to the arrival of Russian paramilitaries in the country on the invitation of the government. Mali’s military junta has been accused of working with mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company with ties to the Kremlin.
French forces are in the final stages of withdrawing from Mali, following increasing tensions with the Mali government.
