BERLIN —
Germany has again suspended its reconnaissance patrols in eastern Mali that are
part of a UN peacekeeping mission after failing to get flyover rights, the military
said Monday.
اضافة اعلان
The permission is
needed for flights between Gao, home to the German military’s main base in
Mali, and Niamey, capital of neighboring Niger.
However, a
spokesman added that “we assume the necessary authorization will be issued
soon”.
Patrol operations
had only resumed early September, following a suspension on August 12.
The initial halt
came after Mali’s ruling junta denied permission for flights to support
personnel rotation under the UN’s
MINUSMA mission.
About 1,100
soldiers from the German military are part of the UN mission.
The German troops
are in part meant to make up for the loss of French soldiers, after Paris
pulled its forces out when the junta turned towards Russia in its fight against
militant Islamist extremism.
The long-running
insurgency has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from
their homes.
The arrival of
Russian paramilitaries in the country on the invitation of the government was a
key factor in France withdrawing its troops.
Asked last week
about the future of the German military presence in Mali, Chancellor
Olaf Scholz indicated his government was working on the matter “taking into account
all factors”.
First of all,
“security of the soldiers has to be guaranteed — this applies to the question
of flyover rights, the question of using drones, the question of whether there
is sufficient security to replace what the French were providing up until now,”
he said.
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