At 3 p.m. on 12 December 2023, the deployment of soldiers in Mali under the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) came to an end, with the soldiers of the Federal Armed Forces leaving the Gao base on board two A400M transport aircraft. After stopping over at the air transfer point in Senegal, they are expected to arrive in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, where they will be given a MINUSMA returnee roll call in the presence of Defence Minister Boris Pistorious in public recognition of what they have accomplished. 

This marks the end of the Federal Armed Forces’ second major deployment outside Europe after the mission in Afghanistan. It was recently considered the most dangerous. 

United Nations mission can no longer be fulfilled

On 30 June 2023, the United Nations Security Council made the decision to bring the MINUSMA mandate to an end on 31 December 2023. In recent months, the Malian government has made it increasingly difficult for the United Nations peacekeeping forces and the Federal Armed Forces to fulfil their mandate. In view of this, the Federal Government decided to complete the withdrawal of the German contingent by the end of the year. 

This process took months and was made more difficult by the military coup in neighbouring Niger. Despite this, the soldiers managed to withdraw the contingent as planned. 

The Federal Armed Forces were involved in the United Nations peacekeeping mission for ten years, with a total of more than 20,000 German soldiers being deployed in connection with MINUSMA to stabilise the region. 

To find out more about the operation, see the  Federal Armed Forces website.