Mali’s transitional government has asked Denmark to immediately withdraw the hundred or so soldiers who recently arrived in the country to take part in the European Special Forces grouping Takuba initiated by France.
The Malian government said in a statement read on national television and published on social networks that “this deployment occurred without its consent.
The request for the withdrawal of this Danish contingent comes in the midst of a tug of war between the junta and a part of the international community that wants to force it to return power to civilians in the near future.
Relations with France in particular, which has been militarily engaged in Mali and the Sahel since 2013, have deteriorated severely.
Denmark announced last week the arrival in Mali of 90 men, mostly elite soldiers and military surgeons, who are supposed to participate in Takuba to protect civilians against jihadists in the so-called tri-border area (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) and be based in Menaka (eastern Mali).
A grouping of European Special Forces designed to accompany Malian soldiers in combat against jihadists, the Takuba “task force” was launched in March 2020 at the initiative of France to share the burden with its European partners.
Since the organization of West African states, ECOWAS, imposed sanctions on Mali on January 9, supported by France and various partners of the country, the junta has clung to the sovereignty of the territory.
It retaliated to the closure of borders by ECOWAS by closing its borders in return. It is subjecting the entry of aircraft into Mali’s airspace to new approvals and procedures. It also said it had requested a review of its defense agreements with France.
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