MaliUN says 11,000 peace-keepers needed to stabilize Mali

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said that about 11,000 peacekeepers may be required to keep the peace in Mali. He also said that a second, smaller force may be needed to conduct operations against Islamic terrorists in north Mali to prevent them from disrupting the country’s reconstruction.

France, whose military has been fighting the Islamists in north Mali since mid-January, said it would gradually withdraw its 4,000 troops from Mali.

The Islamists ruled north Mali from April 2012 until February 2013, imposing a strict and punitive Sharia law, which caused about a fourth of the population of north Mali – 400,000 of 1,600,000 – to flee to neighboring countries.

Since February, after the French and Mali forces have chased the Islamists out of the main population centers in north Mali, and after sustained air strikes by the French Air Force have destroyed most of the Islamists’ arms caches, the jihadists have been hiding in the mountains of north Mali, coming out for raids against the French forces, then retreating again into the mountains.

The Islamists have also exploded suicide

The BBC reports that in his report to the 15-member UN Security Council on Tuesday, Ban proposed that African troops in Mali should operate under a UN mandate, and that the force should consist of some 11,200 troops.

It would “operate under robust rules of engagement, with a mandate to use all necessary means to address threats to the implementation of its mandate, which would include protection of civilians,” Ban said.

He said there may be a need for a second “parallel force” which would “conduct major combat and counter-terrorism operations and provide specialist support beyond the scope of the United Nations mandate and capability”.

The BBC notes that France has indicated it would contribute troops for the smaller parallel force, which could be based in Mali or elsewhere in the West Africa region.

Ban also said that with Mali’s government weak and no sign of reconciliation between northerners – who are mostly Tuaregs — and southerners, “elections [in Mali] could provoke further instability or even violence.”