As UN peacekeeping mission in Mali ends, force will leave behind security 'vacuum' difficult to fill

The United Nations ended its 10-year peacekeeping mission in Mali on Monday following the government's request that alleged the force was inadequate to respond to growing violent extremism in the West African nation. “The Malian terrain was vast and difficult," the commander of the 13,000-strong force, Maj. Gen. Mamadou Gaye, told the closing ceremony in Bamako, the capital. The U.N. effort in Mali has been the deadliest peacekeeping mission in the world, with more than 300 personnel killed. Landlocked Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in northern cities the following year with the help of a French-led military operation. But rebels regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies — which soon included the U.N. force. In June, however, Mali’s junta asked the U.N. mission to leave, claiming that its “future outlook doesn’t seem to respond to the security needs” of the country. The French force left last year under pressure from the junta. As the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali ends, FRANCE 24's François Picard is joined by Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS).