Mali asks United Nations to withdraw peacekeeping force

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NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Mali's interim military authorities on Friday asked for a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave "without delay", citing a "crisis of confidence" between Malian authorities and the decade-long U.N. mission known as MINUSMA. It marks a major turning point for the West African country, which has struggled to stem an Islamist insurgency that took root following an uprising in 2012. MINUSMA was deployed by the U.N. Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability. Frustrations over the growing insecurity spurred two coups in 2020 and 2021 and the ruling...