Operation Barkhane: the last French soldiers have left Mali – Sud Ouest

“This day at 1:00 p.m. (from Paris, 11:00 a.m. GMT), the last detachment of the Barkhane force present on Malian soil crossed the border between Mali and Niger,” said the French general staff. in a press release. After nine years of presence, Barkhane “has rearticulated itself outside the country in less than six months”, he added. This announcement of the withdrawal of French troops from Mali does not mean that Operation Barkhane is over. It is a “re-articulation outside of Mali”, indicated the French Ministry of Defense. Visactu “France remains committed to the Sahel”, underlined in another press release the French presidency, as well as “in the Gulf of Guinea and (in) the Lake Chad region with all the partners attached to stability and the fight against terrorism”. On February 17, noting that “the political and operational conditions were no longer met to remain engaged in Mali”, France had decided to reorganize the device of Operation Barkhane “outside Malian territory”, recalled the Elysée. Important logisticsThe military presence in the Sahel will be halved by the end of the year, to 2,500 soldiers. Niger has accepted the maintenance of an air base in Niamey and the support of 250 soldiers for its military operations on the Malian border. Chad will continue to host a French hold in N’Djamena and France hopes to keep a contingent of special forces in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabé capital. Pushed out by a hostile Malian junta, the French have transferred all their to the Malian army, the last of which, in Gao (North), Monday. In total, France had to leave Mali some 4,000 containers and a thousand vehicles, including hundreds of armored vehicles, while the Sahel is experiencing a outbreak of violence, which the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Bamako’s new ally, is struggling to stem.