when there was covid, there were some reports of instances where residents in the central and northern regions would not allow un personnel into their communes because they felt that un presence was making no difference. violence had worsened over the years. un peacekeepers had been there for nearly a decade at that point. they'd been brought in to stabilise the country. they'd been brought in, more crucially, to implement this peace deal, or support the implementation of a peace deal between former rebels in the north and the malian government. this deal hasn't moved forward since 2015. the militancy has only worsened over the years. but it is going to have quite a serious effect on the situation, isn't it? well, yes, i mean, these are 13,000 troops and personnel leaving within a period of six months, and a vacuum is going to be left behind. it's not enough, so if you think about the wagner mercenaries, who are 1,000 at the start of the deployment, that's not enough to fill in that void. the fact that nearly 3,000 french troops had onlyjust left the country and that gap hasn't been filled yet. the fact that mali also decided to withdraw from the g5 sahel force, which was the regional