Ivory Coast To Withdraw Troops From Mali Peacekeeping Force

Ivory Coast will gradually withdraw its troops and police from a U.N. peacekeeping force in neighbouring Mali. 

The withdrawal of the Ivory Coast army from the Mali peacekeeping force was verified according to a letter seen by Reuters, dealing the latest blow to a mission that saw several Western nations pull out this year. 

Mali, one of the most insecure nations in Africa, has spent the last ten years relying on regional troops and peacekeepers to keep the Islamist insurgents in check, who have killed thousands of people and taken over sizable portions of the country's centre and north.

Ivory Coast will no longer replace departing personnel in the MINUSMA force, according to a letter to a senior U.N. peacekeeping official, dated Nov. 11, which was seen by Reuters on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.