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| UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, briefs the Security Council on the situation in Mali. [UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe] |
New York: Success in tackling the ongoing crisis in Mali requires
strong military action along with intense focus on the political challenges,
while also addressing the dire humanitarian situation in the country, the top
United Nations political affairs official stressed.
Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political
Affairs, said "for then months now, the world has watched with horror as
the people of northern Mali have been subjected to almost unspeakable brutality
at the hands of armed extremists and terrorists" adding that "friends
of the Malian people in the region and beyond were shocked by the abrupt
collapse of constitutional order in Mali and the threat to Mali's territorial
integrity and unity, exacerbating an already dire situation."
Fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels broke
out in northern Mali last January, after which radical Islamists seized control
of the area. The renewed clashes in the North, as well as the proliferation of
armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a
military coup d'état in March have uprooted hundreds of thousands of civilians
over the course of 2012.
In his briefing to the Security Council, Feltman said
"The problems of Mali also need to be seen in the context of the broader
Sahel region, as we cannot expect to alleviate the crisis in the Sahel without
simultaneously improving the situation in Mali that can spill over, and in fact
has done so, into neighbouring countries."
In December 2012, the Council adopted resolution 2085,
authorizing the deployment of an African-led International Support Mission in
Mali (AFISMA), for an initial period of one year to assist the authorities in
recovering rebel-held regions in the north and restoring the unity of the country.
Feltman reported that the deployment of AFISMA troops and
headquarters staff officers began on 18 January. There is general agreement
among key stakeholders in the capital, Bamako, that the envisaged AFISMA
strength of 3,300 personnel needs to be increased in order for it to engage
effectively in offensive operations and enhance force protection, he noted.
He noted that due to the accelerated deployment of AFISMA
troops, critical equipment, logistical and other support for the troops is
urgently required.
For his Part, Malian Ambassador Oumar Daou thanked the
people of France and its President, François Hollande, "who took stock of
the threat inherent in the southward march of terrorist groups and immediately
accepted the Malian President's request thereby saving Mali as a state and
restoring hope to the people of Mali."
France launched an air operation 11 January after armed
groups overran the town of Konna, which had been on the de facto dividing line
between those areas under Government control and those already occupied by the
rebels. -UNifeed