Mali: UN Mission Begins Departure from Kidal Camp

According to several sources within the mission, the United Nations mission in Mali is currently in the process of leaving its camp in Kidal, located in the north of the country. Kidal is a strategically important city and a major focal point in the ongoing battle between the central government and separatist armed groups who have resumed hostilities against it.

“We began our departure from Kidal this Tuesday morning,” a mission official on the ground informed the AFP, specifying that the evacuation is being conducted via road.

This extensive and delicate operation has been anticipated for weeks as one of the most significant threats.
Kidal is under the control of a predominantly Tuareg-led rebellion. These armed groups, which had previously reached a ceasefire and peace agreement with the government in 2014 and 2015, have recently resumed hostilities in light of the announced departure of the UN mission, known as MINUSMA.
They are opposed to MINUSMA handing over its camps to the national authorities.
The colonels who seized power by force in 2020 have made the restoration of sovereignty over the territory their guiding principle.

In June, the junta demanded and obtained the departure of MINUSMA, which has been deployed in the country since 2013, amidst ongoing challenges related to jihadist activity and a profound multidimensional crisis.