United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali

In 2012, Tuareg and other peoples in northern Mali's Azawad region started an insurgency in the north under the banner of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. After some initial successes and complaints from the Malian Army that it was ill-equipped to fight the insurgents, who had benefited from an influx of heavy weaponry from the 2011 Libyan civil war as well as other sources, elements of the army staged a military coup d'état on 21 March 2012.[5] Following the coup, the rebels made further advances to capture the three biggest cities in the north: Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.[6] Following economic sanctions and a blockade by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the country, a deal, brokered in Burkina Faso by President Blaise Compaoré under the auspices of ECOWAS, was signed that would see Amadou Sanogo cede power to Dioncounda Traoré to assume the presidency in an interim capacity until an election is held.[7]

On 1 July 2013, 6,000 of a future total of 12,600 UN peacekeeping troops officially took over responsibility for patrolling the country's north from France and the ECOWAS' International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA).[8] The group was expected to play a role in the 2013 Malian presidential election.[9] The force is the third largest UN peacekeeping force in operation in the world.[10]

Its headquarters are in the Malian capital, Bamako. Military intelligence will be evaluated by Force Headquarters U2- Intelligence Section.[11]

The force was led by Danish Major General Michael Lollesgaard in 2015 and 2016, Belgian Major General Jean-Paul Deconinck until 2 October 2018, after which he was succeeded by Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllensporre of Sweden.[12][13]

Current contributors are:[14]

In October 2013, a suicide bomber attacked the Chadian soldiers resulting in the death of two soldiers.[21]

On 13 December, two Senegalese peacekeepers were killed at a bombing outside the Malian Solidarity Bank in Kidal a day before the second round of the Malian parliamentary election, 2013.[22] In October 2014, 10 soldiers were killed—nine from Niger and one from Senegal near Gao and Kidal, respectively—bringing the total number of dead soldiers from the mission to 21 with dozens more wounded. It also preceded Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop calling for the UNSC to send a rapid deployment force to the country claiming that there was an increase in drug traffickers and Islamist fighters. U.N. Peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous also spoke to the UNSC from Bamako, where he attend a memorial service for the dead soldiers. He added that a combination of factors has led to the increase in attacks on U.N. troops, including the drawdown of French forces and a perceived lack of Malian security forces, as such MINUSMA, being the main international presence in the area, was a target. He further noted that the UN was no longer working in a peacekeeping environment, but sought to increase protection of the mission's staff, equipment and bases.[23]

On 20 January 2019 the MINUSMA base at Aguelhok was attacked by militants. The attack was repelled but 10 Chadian UN peacekeepers were killed and a further 25 injured.[24][25] The militants had arrived on board a number of armed vehicles. Several of the attackers are said to have been killed.[26] Responsibility was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb who stated that it was a retaliatory attack for the recent visit to Chad by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the subsequent revival of Chad–Israel diplomatic relations.[26][27] UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack.[28]

On January 25, 2019 Three members of Sri Lankan Peacekeeping troops deployed in Mali were killed, while three Corporals were injured, when their armoured vehicle came under an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack, in the general area of Douentza in Mali.[29]

The United Nations reported that attacks in the northern Mali against a U.N. convoy killed three peacekeepers from Chad and injured four others. Secretary-General António Guterres and UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric criticized the attacks, and said that they could account to war crimes as per the international law.[30]

As of March 31, 2020, 209 MINUSMA troops lost their lives.[4]

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