UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- A UN peacekeeping convoy in Mali carrying 848 troops, suffering six explosions that injured dozens, has finally reached its destination in Gao, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.
The 9 km-long convoy of 143 trucks carrying troops and equipment set off from Kidal in northern Mali on Oct. 31 in bad weather over poor roads with no protective air cover, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
It arrived in Gao on Tuesday night after traveling nearly 350 km. The 37 injured troops were either discharged from hospital or are in stable condition.
Dujarric said the peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Chad, Egypt and Guinea are from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali known as MINUSMA. Their ordeal marked the completion of MINUSMA's accelerated withdrawal in a deteriorating security situation in northern Mali.
Dujarric said bad weather and poor road conditions caused vehicles to break down, adding to the challenges the convoy faced on its way to Gao. It was not known if militants planted the six improvised explosive devices some time ago or if they had been placed intending to hit this convoy.
"As a result of the delays, they were running low on supplies, and were resupplied by air with fuel, food and other items two days ago," the spokesman said.
He said Gao was MINUSMA's eighth base out of 13 to close.
The military government, established after the May 2021 coup, requested MINUSMA to withdraw, saying it was ineffective in stopping raids by jihadists, particularly in the country's north. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in June, authorizing the withdrawal by year's end. UN peacekeepers have been in Mali for a decade.
"Over the next weeks, the mission will end its presence in Ansango in the Gao region, followed by Mopti, thus completing the second and final phase of the mission's withdrawal plan from Mali," Dujarric said. "The remaining bases of Gao, Timbuktu and Bamako, where MINUSMA is currently consolidating its presence, will be converted into liquidation sites and handed over to the Malian authorities once the liquidation phase, which will begin on Jan. 1, is completed."
He said that during the liquidation phase, only a small team will remain to oversee the orderly transport of assets belonging to troop- and police-contributing countries to the respective nations and the appropriate disposal of equipment belonging to the United Nations.
"These assets will either be repatriated or redeployed to other UN missions, gifted to the Malian authorities, or sold in the market, in accordance with UN regulations governing the closure of missions," he said.
The spokesman said that as the drawdown of MINUSMA personnel continues, half of the 13,871 peacekeepers departed Mali.
He said the Chadian and Guinean contingents of the convoy that left Kidal are scheduled to depart from Gao to their respective countries. But he would not reveal exactly when or how others would be leaving the country, citing security concerns.
"The United Nations reaffirms its determination to complete the withdrawal of MINUSMA from Mali, with the exception of the liquidation team, including its guard unit and the rear parties of troop- and police-contributing countries by the scheduled date of Dec. 31, and is counting on Mali's full cooperation in this process," he said. ■
