Members of the national army of Mali shoot at UN blue helmet soldiers from Germany. The incident should be resolved.
Gao / Berlin – Armed forces of the Malian army have shot at UN blue helmets from Germany on the edge of the German military camp Camp Castor in the city of Gao. The shelling occurred on Tuesday evening (November 2nd, 2021), said a spokesman for the Bundeswehr command and control command in Potsdam on Wednesday (November 3rd, 2021).
There were no injuries. The incident occurred in the immediate vicinity of the camp in Mali. The background to the incident was initially unclear. According to the spokesman, the leadership of the operation contacted the Malian armed forces in order to obtain an investigation.
German UN blue helmets shot at: the situation in Mali is unstable
As part of the UN-led stabilization mission in Mali (Minusma), Bundeswehr soldiers are stationed in Camp Castor. Minusma is considered the most dangerous foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr. German troops are also involved in the EU training mission in Mali (EUTM).
The political situation in Mali has been characterized by increasing instability since 2012. Most of the Islamist-motivated violence has also reached neighboring countries in the Sahel zone in recent years. Thousands of security forces and civilians were killed in the crisis region, and hundreds of thousands had to flee their homes. The situation in the country is considered “worrying” among observers.
In June twelve members of the German armed forces were injured in a suicide attack around 180 kilometers northeast of Gao. Since the disastrous withdrawal of western troops from Afghanistan, there has been intense discussion as to whether the Bundeswehr should continue to operate in Mali.
German armed forces in Mali: “The actual causes of the crisis cannot be solved militarily”
The outgoing commander of the Bundeswehr Operations Command, Lieutenant General Erich Pfeffer, told the German Press Agency that the security situation in Mali had gradually deteriorated over the past two or three years, although the order was being carried out as best as possible. “The causes are diverse. From my point of view, the core problem is, on the one hand, that efforts in the entire civilian political area with a view to implementing the peace agreement are nowhere near as progressing as one would like, ”said Pfeffer.
The other big field is the question of what stability can be achieved militarily. “And it must be clearly stated that the size of the country is so large that it is unlikely to exercise complete military control over the country,” said Pfeffer. “Militarily, one must continue to concentrate militarily on core regions in the future and above all accelerate parallel civilian efforts with a view to a functioning statehood, because the actual causes of the crisis cannot be solved militarily.” (Tvd / AFP / dpa)
