They denounce the “multiple obstructions” of the local authorities. It will last “between four and six months” and will be coordinated with the UN
Emmanuel Macron announced this Thursday “the coordinated withdrawal” of the troops that several allied countries have maintained in Mali for nine years, coinciding with a moment of sharp deterioration in relations between Paris and Bamako. However, the French president also expressed his willingness and that of his partners to “remain involved” in the fight against jihadist terrorism in the Sahel.
“Due to the multiple obstructions by the local transition authorities, Canada and the European states operating in the Barkhane operation and within the Tabuka ‘task force’ consider that the political, operational and legal conditions no longer exist to effectively continue its current military engagement in the ongoing fight against terrorism in Mali,” the allies announced in a joint statement. For this reason, they have decided to “begin the withdrawal of their military resources dedicated to these operations.”
The note was signed by France, its European partners in ‘Operation Barkane’, Canada and the African allies in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea, in addition to the European Council, the European Commission, the Coalition for the Sahel and the Commission for the African Union. The announcement took place hours before the summit in Brussels between the EU and the African Union.
Macron specified at a press conference that the withdrawal from Mali will be gradual and will last “between four and six months.” It will be carried out “in a coordinated manner, with the Armed Forces of the African country and with the United Nations Mission (MINUSMA),” he explained. During this period, he promised that he will continue to support the UN mission.
The French president added that in the coming months the Gossi, Ménaka and Gao military bases will close. In addition, a good part of the soldiers will be withdrawn to the border region of Niger with Mali and to the Gulf of Guinea.
“The threat facing the region has two names: Al Qaeda and Islamic State. These terrorist organizations have chosen to make Africa and the Sahel in particular – now increasingly the Gulf of Guinea as well – a priority in their expansion strategy,” he warned.
Tribute to the fallen
Macron, who paid tribute to the 53 French soldiers killed in the Sahel since 2013, “completely” refused to speak of failure in the mission, as many analysts describe it. And he considered that if there had been no intervention in Mali, “there would surely have been a collapse of the State.” The president recalled that the coalition has managed to deal heavy blows to the terrorists of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. It was his predecessor, the socialist François Hollande, who decided in January 2013 to send forces to the African country at the request of the Malian authorities, who were threatened by jihadists at the time.
Relations between Paris and Bamako have deteriorated a lot in recent times, especially with the military junta currently in power and the growing presence in the country of the Russian Wagner mercenary company. Macron considered that one could not “continue to participate militarily alongside authorities with whom he did not share or have hidden objectives. That is the situation we are facing in Mali.” For the French head of state, “the fight against terrorism cannot justify everything. It cannot, under the pretext of making it an absolute priority, become an “exercise of indefinite preservation of power.”
France currently has 4,300 soldiers deployed in the Sahel, of which 2,400 are in Mali. After the withdrawal, between 2,500 and 3,000 are expected to remain in the region, according to Colonel Pascal Ianni, spokesman for the General Staff.
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