Hundreds converged in the Malian capital Bamako in solidarity with the transition authority over its request for the UN to withdraw the peacekeeping force deployed in the country.

The rally Thursday comes ahead of today’s vote at the UN Security Council which may end the decade-long operation launched in 2013 to stabilize Mali in the face of a deadly insurgency.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission MINUSMA’s current mandate expires on June 30, but instead of renewal, Bamako asked that the 13,000-strong men mission departs.

As Abdullahi Hassan reports, the Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop cited a crisis of confidence between the two parties as a major pointer in the request.