Germany to withdraw military presence by 2024 in Mali over 'questionable progress'

Germany is set to withdraw its Mali presence after France and UK troops pull out raising questions about the progress of its missions in the rebel-held West African country. Berlin plans to withdraw all its troops from the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Mali by May 2024, a German government spokesman announced in a statement. The European nation will begin controlled withdrawal over Mali's ruling military junta's alliance with the Russian mercenaries PMC Wagner. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other key ministers agreed to only prolong the German army’s mandate in Mali until 2024. 

"Germany’s commitment to the MINUSMA operation be extended in May 2023 for the last time by a year, in order to bring this mission to a structured end after 10 years,” announced Steffen Hebestreit in a statement. 

The decision of the German military wind down was made in view of the upcoming elections in Mali in February 2024 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition partners the Greens and liberal FDP held a discussion. It is expected to begin as soon as the summer of 2023. By May 2024, all German troops should have left the Western African country, government spokesperson Hebestreit's statement read.

The German military missions overseas require a parliament mandate that is tabled annually, and under the current bill, there are an estimated 1,400 German troops deployed to the UN mission known as MINUSMA. Due to the flaring tensions between Mali’s military leadership and the Western nations, most countries including the UK, and  France have announced the withdrawal of forces from the conflict-ridden nation. United Nations is yet to reportedly receive an official notification from the German government. 

UK announces withdrawal of Mali peacekeeping troops

Last week, UK's Defense Ministry made a similar announcement saying it is withdrawing its troop from the peacekeeping missions in Mali citing the West African nation's growing reliance on Russian mercenaries PMC Wagner also known as "Putin's shadow army."  Mali's security situation has undermined to "significantly worse" due to the ruling junta's alleged partnership with the private Russian military force. The Russian mercenaries in Africa have been linked to massacres of Malian civilians in cooperation with the Malian Army, which shifted its trust from the traditional ally France to Moscow. Russian private paramilitary group Wagner is allegedly the de facto private army that is suspected of having close links with President Putin. 

UK's Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said that Britain is withdrawing the 300-strong armed forces stationed in Mali since 2020. This, he noted, is part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission that will now exit earlier than planned. Malian forces have turned to Russia to combat the decade-long jihadist insurgency by armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.