According to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, the final French soldiers of the Barkhane anti-jihadist unit left Mali on Monday after serving there for nine years, amid tense ties between Paris and the junta in power in Bamako.
The French HQ issued a statement that read, “Today at 13:00 (from Paris, 11:00 GMT), the final detachment of the Barkhane force present on Malian land has crossed the border between Mali and Niger.”
Barkhane “has restructured itself outside the country in less than six months” after being present for nine years, it was added. This significant logistical military problem was overcome with complete openness, security, and cooperation from all parties.
The French presidency emphasized in another statement that “France remains engaged in the Sahel” and “in the Gulf of Guinea and (in) the Lake Chad region with all partners committed to stability and the fight against terrorism.”
France decided to rearrange the Barkhane mission “outside of Malian territory” on February 17, recognizing that “the political and operational requirements were no longer met to remain engaged in Mali,” according to the Elysée.
By the end of the year, there will be 2,500 fewer soldiers in the Sahel than there are now. Niger has promised to keep an air base in Niamey operational and to contribute 250 soldiers to Malian border patrols.
A French presence in N’Djamena will remain in Chad, and France aims to keep a group of special soldiers in Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ouagadougou.
The French have handed over all of their property to the Malian army over the past six months after being driven out by a hostile Malian junta; the final transfer took place on Monday in Gao (North).
While the Sahel is suffering an upswing in violence that the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, a new friend of Bamako, is battling to quell, France has been forced to remove from Mali some 4,000 containers and 1,000 vehicles, including hundreds of armored vehicles.
According to calculations by AFP based on a compilation by the specialized NGO Acled, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso since the beginning of the year, which is already more than the 2,021 documented for the entire of 2021.
The French army has endured nine years of combat in the Sahel and has lost 59 troops.
