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July 5, 2023

U.N. to Withdraw Troops from Mali Amid Ongoing Insecurity
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The U.N. Security Council voted to end its decade-long peacekeeping
presence in Mali after the country's military junta told the
13,000-troop international force to leave. Mali has suffered deadly
attacks from armed rebel groups across its north and central regions
following an uprising in 2012. The security crisis has led to
back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. In addition to the U.N. forces, an
estimated 1,000 fighters from Russia's Wagner mercenary group remain in
Mali. Earlier this year, a U.N. report found Wagner soldiers took part
in an attack on the village of Moura last year, which killed 500 people,
mostly civilians.


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