The experts cited some sources as saying the government believes over time the confrontation in the north will benefit Malian authorities, but said other sources believe time favours the armed groups “whose military capacities and community penetration grow each day”.
In June, Mali’s military rulers ordered the UN peacekeeping force and its 15,000 international troops to leave after a decade of working on stemming the insurgency. The UN Security Council terminated the mission’s mandate on June 30.
The panel said the armed groups that signed the 2015 agreement expressed concern that the peace deal could potentially fall apart without UN mediation, “thereby exposing the northern regions to the risk of another uprising”.
The UN force, known as the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), “played a crucial role” in facilitating talks between the parties, monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the agreement, and investigating alleged violations, the panel said.
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