DAKAR, Senegal: The European Union (EU)’s military training mission in Mali announced on Friday that it had officially ended its 11-year presence in the jihadist-ravaged country after the bloc failed to renew its mandate in early May.
The 27-nation bloc sent a European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in 2013 to train and advise the West African country’s armed forces in the face of rising jihadism since 2012.
The mission included up to 700 troops from about 20 European states, but the number has been significantly reduced amid diplomatic tensions between Bamako and its Western partners.
In early May, the EU decided not to renew the mission’s mandate in view of the “development of the political and security situation” in the country, the European Commission said.
The Malian army seized power in a coup in 2020, severing its anti-jihadist alliance with France and European partners and turning politically and militarily towards Russia.
The official departure of the training mission took place on Friday at its headquarters in the capital Bamako, EUTM said.
Two members of the mission have died since 2013, including a Portuguese soldier killed in an attack on a camp in Bamako in 2017 and a Spanish soldier who died in 2018 near the central town of Sevare, EUTM reports.
According to a post on X, the mission said it has trained 20,000 Malian soldiers during its 11-year presence.
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