The Minusma severely attacked in Gao and Sévaré. A strategy to review?

(BRUSSELS2) Several attacks have taken place one after the other in Mali, against MINUSMA. The United Nations force in Mali is thus increasingly proving to be a target of choice for the rebels.

On Tuesday evening (May 31), two attacks targeted the "internationals" in Gao in quick succession. Around 20:45 p.m., the MINUSMA camp, located in the Chateau d'eau district, was the target of a heavy weapon attack, by mortars or rockets. Result: a blue helmet (Chinese) was killed, three blue helmets seriously injured and more than ten MINUSMA personnel, including civilians, slightly injured. Staff accommodation containers were destroyed, the United Nations says.

A second attack follows, with light weapons this time. It targets the anti-mine service (UNMAS), a UN partner, located in another district of Gao. Two Malian security agents and a Frenchman were killed. Well-prepared and coordinated attacks, according to the correspondent of RFI in Mali " During (the first) attack, a good part of the city was suddenly plunged into darkness, deprived of electricity. The attackers infiltrated part of the city in small groups. They had probably been able to do a scouting. (...) The targeted targets prove that the assailants knew the terrain. »

MINUSMA is deploying its attack helicopters, to carry out aerial surveillance, and its rapid reaction force in Gao.

Another attack against a convoy in the Sévaré region

Sunday (May 29), in the morning around 11:00 a.m., it was already a MINUSMA Force convoy that had been ambushed 30 km west of Sevaré, on the Tenenkou-Sevaré axis. An axis which becomes at risk according to the soldiers on the spot. According to initial information, five blue helmets are on the carpet, another seriously injured and evacuated.

Comment: the north of Mali far from being pacified, on the contrary

A very heavy price paid by "internationals" like the Malians

We can never say it enough. The United Nations Force is paying a very heavy price for stabilization in Mali, in near total silence. But they are not the only ones. The Malians, themselves very committed, suffered even greater losses, which can be counted in several dozen deaths, according to our sources. This does not preclude questioning the strategy pursued by the international force.

The containment strategy in the bases: a mistake!

The UN still has nearly 12.000 men on site (2). The territory is certainly vast. But it's already a sufficient force... perhaps badly distributed. According to an observer on site, consulted by B2, the United Nations force is paying for its burial strategy in bases and convoys. The soldiers remain most often in bases “, which they consider super protected, but which turn out, in the end, as many traps. Compared to the number of soldiers engaged, the stabilization patrols outside the walls remain " limited ».

Rebels present, growing stronger?

Results ! The rebels (or terrorists *) are always " well present " and " hold ground ». One could even say that they are now present in areas from which they had been chased before. They reappear as soon as the convoys have disappeared. They have many informants and relays “ in the towns " but also " even within certain forces”, the Malians in particular. The attacks deliberately targeting certain officers can only have benefited "from inside information ».

An increasingly refined FDI strategy

The fighters gradually refined their strategy, whether in terms of explosive devices or attacks by Malians and internationals. " At the beginning - tells me this specialist in the field - they resorted to "simple" means » : a convoy was spotted. An IED was planted, triggered by the passage, with the risk of causing collateral victims. " What they seek to avoid despite everything ". (...) The "UN" reacted by having each convoy preceded by a helicopter to detect the installation of these devices. The rebels " then adapted, refining their technique »... With telephone-controlled IEDs. A rise in power, which has been refined over time, a bit like in Afghanistan with the Taliban.

Elaborate actions, combining attacks and IED

The rebels also use combined actions » attack then explosion (or the opposite) —. " Ram cars, loaded with explosives are now used. The action is kamikaze, the driver, protected by armored plates, against possible shots, dies in the explosion ". Or they resort to simultaneous, coordinated attacks, as in Gao on Tuesday.

We are thus far from rudimentary attacks. And MINUSMA's burial strategy — with bases and convoys — seems doomed. At a time when the UN Secretary General is asking Member States to provide 2500 more soldiers and police, we must also consider other methods of stabilization. If the Minusma does not return to the offensive, it seems to have to undergo external pressures...

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Besides, the losses suffered by the Barkhane forces (7 dead since 2014), although very committed, remain limited. Read : Three French soldiers killed by the explosion of a mine in northern Mali

(2) Exactly 9142 soldiers (out of 11200 authorized), 1178 police and 1180 civilians

(*) Read our terminology guide