Government leaders in Mali have warned of a greater turmoil than the country is already in if the United Nations reduces its peacekeeping force.
The mandate of the mission is due for renewal in June. But Canadian and Dutch peacekeepers, who form part of the 16,000-strong force, are already going home.
Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from Gao, where he joins one of the UN’s last missions as they pull out of territory regularly attacked by fighters linked to al-Qaeda.
