Jane Hahn Photography

northern mali: MINUSMA: the UNs most dangerous mission

'Since World War II, U.N. peacekeepers have been dispatched to 69 conflicts — civil wars, border disputes and failed states. But now they are confronting an unsettling new threat: Al-Qaeda. 

Here in the vast, lawless desert of northwest Africa, their convoys are being torn apart by improvised explosive devices and their compounds blasted by 1,000-pound car bombs. It is a crisis that looks more like the U.S. ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan than the cease-fires traditionally monitored by U.N. missions. 

In the past four years, 118 peacekeepers have been killed — making the U.N. mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, the world body’s deadliest ongoing peace operation. The bloodshed has raised questions about how an institution developed in the 1940s can serve a world under threat from the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. The issue is especially potent given the expectation that U.N. peacekeepers will eventually go to places such as Syria and Libya. 

“We are trying to learn these lessons here, rather than in Iraq,  

ince World War II, U.N. peacekeepers have been dispatched to 69 conflicts — civil wars, border disputes and failed states. But now they are confronting an unsettling new threat: al-Qaeda. 

In 2012, Islamist radicals linked to al-Qaeda hijacked an uprising by ethnic Tuareg people and went on to seize cities across northern Mali, holding on for nearly a year until they were forced out by a French military intervention. When 11,000 U.N. troops arrived in 2013, they were meant to protect a fledgling peace deal and train the Malian army. But Islamist extremists regrouped across the region. It did not take long before the militants started targeting peacekeepers, whom they dubbed “Crusader occupation forces.”' 

excerpt from The Washington Post (2017) 

  • UN Peacekeepers from Senegal on an early morning patrol in Gao, Mali on Sunday, January 15, 2017. Despite the end of the occupation, many Malians find that security is still a major issue speaking of incidents of car jacking and looting. Even though crime is high, most of the deadly attacks that occur are against the United Nations Minusma mission, Malian soldiers and the French military.
  • UN Peacekeepers from Senegal on an early morning patrol in Gao, Mali on Sunday, January 15, 2017. Despite the end of the occupation, many Malians find that security is still a major issue speaking of incidents of car jacking and looting. Even though crime is high, most of the deadly attacks that occur are against the United Nations Minusma mission, Malian soldiers and the French military.
  • A United Nations police officer stands on guard during a night patrol in the Abaradiou neighborhood in Timbuktu, Mali. Despite the end of the occupation, many Malians in Timbuktu find that security is still a major issue speaking of incidents of car jacking and looting. Even though crime is high, most of the deadly attacks that occur are against the United Nations Minusma mission, Malian soldiers and the French military.
  • Men stand outside of the Manuscript Library in Timbuktu, Mali on Monday, January 9, 2017.
  • A librarian displays an astronomy manuscript at the Manuscript Library in Timbuktu, Mali on Monday, January 9, 2017. While Timbuktu was occupied, scores of manuscripts were destroyed but through an international effort, the majority of manuscripts were smuggled out of the city and saved.
  • Women buy fresh produce at the market in Gao, Mali on Sunday, January 15, 2017.
  • Market stalls are set up as shoppers buy goods in Gao, Mali on Sunday, January 15, 2017.
  • Members of former rebel groups part of the peace process wait to be registered in the MOC at a local police station in Gao, Mali on Friday, January 13, 2017. Close to 150 men wait to be registered in the MOC (Mécanisme Opérationnel de Coordination) but the process has been delayed due to the number of men exceeding the original amount registered as well as demands of insurance and pay by the men. The MOC will be comprised of the Malian military as well as former members of rebel groups who are a part of the peace agreement. Joint patrols will take place in Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal with Gao being the first city to implement these patrols, the first steps in accomplishing the peace process.
  • Members of former rebel groups part of the peace process wait to be registered in the MOC at a local police station in Gao, Mali on Friday, January 13, 2017. Close to 150 men wait to be registered in the MOC (Mécanisme Opérationnel de Coordination) but the process has been delayed due to the number of men exceeding the original amount registered as well as demands of insurance and pay by the men. The MOC will be comprised of the Malian military as well as former members of rebel groups who are a part of the peace agreement. Joint patrols will take place in Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal with Gao being the first city to implement these patrols, the first steps in accomplishing the peace process.
  • A United Nations peacekeeper speaks with a member of the MOC (Mécanisme Opérationnel de Coordination), a force comprised of members of the Malian Army as well as members of former armed rebel groups who are part of the peace process, on the outskirts of Timbuktu, Mali on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
  • A United Nations Policeman stands on guard during a night patrol in the Abaradiou neighborhood in Timbuktu, Mali on Monday, January 9, 2017. Despite the end of the occupation, many Malians in Timbuktu find that security is still a major issue speaking of incidents of car jacking and looting. Even though crime is high, most of the deadly attacks that occur are against the United Nations Minusma mission, Malian soldiers and the French military.
  • The remnants of a building that was adjacent to the UN base that was bombed on February 5, 2016 in Timbuktu, Mali on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
  • A sign post measuring the distance between Timbuktu and other northern towns on the outskirts of Timbuktu, Mali on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
  • French troops part of Operation Barkhane in Gao, Mali on Friday, January 13, 2017.
  • French troops part of Operation Barkhane stand at attention as French President Francois Hollande's private jet lands in Gao, Mali on Friday, January 13, 2017.
  • An aerial view of Timbuktu, Mali surrounded by the challenging and lawless Sahel on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.
  • Men sit outside of the Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali on Monday, January 9, 2017. The Sakore Mosque was built in 1325 and is one of three learning centers in Timbuktu. It was partially destroyed during the occupation but has since been rebuilt.
  • Children play in a courtyard  in Timbuktu, Mali on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.
  • A UN Peacekeeper stands near a FAMA (Armed Forces of Mali) checkpoint on the outskirts of Timbuktu, Mali on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
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