MINUSMA
The UN stabilisation mission in Mali, 2013–2023 — the organisation’s deadliest of its era, expelled at Bamako’s demand.
Broad area of activity
Nationwide, with its weight in the northern and central regions.
Notable history
At peak over 15,000 personnel, MINUSMA protected the northern towns, supplied logistics the state lacked and documented the war — including investigations, like Moura, that the government rejected. More than 300 peacekeepers died, making it the UN’s deadliest mission of its era. Expelled at Bamako’s demand in 2023, its compressed withdrawal triggered the race for its camps that reopened the northern war.
Strengths
Presence, documentation, and an airline’s worth of enabling logistics.
Limitations
A peacekeeping mandate with no peace to keep; hostage to host-state consent to the end.
Reported & historical equipment associations
Lineage & institutional history
Key events
MINUSMA established
The UN Security Council creates the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, which grows into one of the UN's largest operations — and its deadliest peacekeeping mission of the era.
Mali expels MINUSMA
At Bamako's demand, the Security Council ends MINUSMA's mandate in June 2023; the mission completes a compressed, contested withdrawal by 31 December, handing over or demolishing its northern camps.
Assessed as of2023-12Last reviewed2026-07-15