With our special correspondent in Aguelhoc, Serge Daniel

A convoy of armored vehicles, driven and secured by Chadian soldiers of the UN mission in Mali, leaves Aguelhoc airport for the city center. One of the officials of the Chadian contingent, shortly after, explains: "Things are going well. We are soldiers, we execute the orders of soldiers. Aguelhoc without weapons, everything that comes and goes we control… Security is in our hands".

Feared troops

Chadian troops are rather feared by the enemy, which has lost ground here. They now control the two exits from the city, the one leading to Kidal and the one to Tessalit. And if there are men among this contingent, there are also women and they are recognized by a particular cry: "Morale! We always have morale, one of them assures us. Yes, we are not afraid, because we came for peacekeeping, so we are not afraid".

The city's guides praise the effectiveness of UN peacekeepers of Chadian nationality: "Since they arrived, they have collaborated greatly with the population and they have also provided the necessary assistance, in all fields and at all levels".

Approximately 300 UN peacekeepers from Ndjamena are based in the city and its surroundings. And in Aguelhoc and in another locality, Tessalit, Minusma provided a space for civil society in each of these communes, in the presence of its head Mahamat Saleh Annadif.

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