PARIS –
A European military task force that helped the Malian government fight Islamic extremists has formally withdrawn from the West African country amid tensions with the ruling military junta.
The French military, which headed the Takuba task force, announced on Friday that it officially finished its work on Thursday. The move was linked to France’s decision earlier this year to withdraw troops from Mali after nine years of helping Malian forces fight violent extremists who had threatened to seize power.
The European departure comes after at least 132 people were killed in several villages in central Mali in recent weeks in attacks attributed to al Qaeda-linked jihadist rebels, and after a peacekeeping force contractor of the UN in Mali was assassinated on Thursday.
It also comes as the Malian junta has grown closer to Russia, as Moscow has sought to build alliances and gain influence in Africa.
The European Takuba force was made up of several hundred special forces troops from 10 countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden. Its objective was to train and protect the fighting forces of Mali.
Despite the pullout, the French military called the force a “strategic and tactical success” and an example of “what Europeans can achieve together in complex security environments,” saying the lessons learned from Takuba could be used in future joint operations.
In announcing its withdrawal, France accused the Malian authorities of neglecting the fight against Islamic extremists. France maintains a military presence in neighboring West African nations facing similar threats.
Insurgents remain active in Mali, and extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have moved from the arid north into Mali’s more populous center, stoking animosity and violence between ethnic groups in the region.
The recent attacks on villages in central Mali were the deadliest since mutinous soldiers toppled the president in 2020.
Then on Thursday, a Malian contractor for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali was killed by armed militants on a motorcycle in the town of Menaka. The UN force MINUSMA said he was on his way to see his hospitalized wife when he was killed and denounced the killing as a “cowardly and barbaric act”.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday voted to keep the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, while condemning its military rulers for using mercenaries accused of committing human rights and humanitarian violations.
The junta has hired mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, which has been accused by the European Union and human rights groups of violating human rights and international humanitarian law. While the Kremlin denies ties to the company, Western analysts call it a tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia and China abstained from the French-drafted UN resolution, which extends the mission’s mandate to June 30, 2023, with its current limit of 13,289 international military and 1,920 police.
Authorities say more than 270 peacekeepers have been killed in Mali, making it the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission.