This moment was expected. Nevertheless, it marks an important turning point. More than nine years after the start of Operation Serval (since replaced by Barkhane) to fight the jihadists, France no longer has soldiers in Mali. This Monday, August 15 at 1 p.m., “the last French soldiers from Operation Barkhane still on Malian soil crossed the border between Mali and Niger. They came from the Gao desert operational platform, now transferred to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa),” the French army general staff announced on Twitter.
The French withdrawal, formalized by Emmanuel Macron on February 17, was planned. 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. But he was rushed.
Dissension with the Bamako junta
Several dozen people had demonstrated on Sunday in Gao, a city in northern Mali, to accelerate the departure of the French military force Barkhane, planned since February. An ultimatum had been issued: “We are giving from this day, Sunday August 14, 2022, a 72-hour ultimatum for the final departure of Barkhane”, declared demonstrators presenting themselves as “the living forces” of Gao. Relations between the ruling junta in Bamako and Paris, a former colonial power, had deteriorated sharply in recent months.
Pushed towards the exit by a hostile Malian junta, the French have transferred for the past six months all their grips to the Malian army, the last of which, in Gao (North), on Monday. In total, France had to take some 4,000 containers and a thousand vehicles out of Mali, including hundreds of armored vehicles, while the Sahel is experiencing an outbreak of violence, which the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Bamako’s new ally, is struggling to contain. stem.
“If France leaves Mali, it is at the request of the new Malian authorities. We always respect the sovereignty of our partners, ”said the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, on Twitter. Translation, without detour through diplomatic language: this Monday balances nearly a year of increasingly bitter relations between Paris and the colonels in power in Bamako.
The latter broke the defense agreements with France and its European partners in May, after months of obstruction against Barkhane. To turn in parallel to Russia, to the point of securing the services of the very sulphurous Russian paramilitary group Wagner, according to France and the UN… “They are choosing Russia. We will see if this helps them fight against the jihadists! enrages an executive adviser.
Countering the idea of “failure”
Therefore, it was crucial for Paris to avoid a scenario similar to the fiasco of the American evacuation from Afghanistan. And to counter the idea of a “failure”, a waste, denounced by the opposition and refuted by Macron. The Head of State, who called the Chief of the Defense Staff on Monday to congratulate him on the smooth running of the operations, salutes in a press release the commitment of the French soldiers, 59 of whom have “paid the price of their life “.
“Their sacrifice obliges us and reminds us that our soldiers have, during these years, preserved the unity of Mali, prevented the establishment of a territorial caliphate and fought against the terrorist groups which strike the local populations and threaten Europe”, underlines the press release.
VIDEO. Operation Barkhane: Mali demands “without delay” withdrawal of French soldiers
On April 19, the French army had already officially handed over the keys to the Gossi base in northern Mali, in the north of the country, to the FAMa. A major step in the departure of the Barkhane anti-jihadist force from the country, the French general staff said. The base had hosted 300 French soldiers.
“The French armies continue the fight against terrorism in the Sahel”
“In accordance with the decision of the President of the French Republic of February 17, the Barkhane force in Mali has been reorganized outside the country, in less than six months. This major military logistical challenge has been met, in good order and in safety, as well as in total transparency and in coordination with all partners,” said a press release. However, “the French armies continue the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, in coordination with our African and international partners”, he continues.
VIDEO. Mali: France and its partners will “withdraw their military presence”, announces Macron
“France remains committed to the Sahel”, underlined the French presidency, as well as “in the Gulf of Guinea and (in) the Lake Chad region with all the partners committed to stability and the fight against terrorism”. Nevertheless, the French 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 retain a contingent of special forces in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabé capital.
More than 2,000 civilians have been killed in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso since the start of the year, already more than the 2,021 recorded for the whole of 2021, according to AFP calculations based on a compilation of the specialized NGO Acled. In nine years of presence in the Sahel, the French army has lost 59 soldiers.