French Army: the last group of soldiers has left Mali

NICE, France (AP) — The last French army unit left Mali on Monday, according to a French army statement, nine years after Paris sent troops to the West African country to help drive Islamic extremists from power.

France’s armed forces have completed their withdrawal from Mali six months after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his plan to withdraw from the country following tensions with the ruling junta.

Tensions have also increased over the past year between Mali, its African neighbors and the European Union after Mali’s transitional government allowed Russian Wagner Group mercenaries to deploy on its territory.

The last contingent of French soldiers from the so-called Barkhane Force present on Malian territory crossed into neighboring Niger on Monday afternoon, the French army said. They were based in Gao, in northern Mali, a region plagued by jihadist violence.

France had some 4,300 troops in the Sahel region, including 2,400 in Mali, in February when Macron announced the withdrawal. With French army units out of Mali, “the Barkhane force has been reorganized outside the country,” the French army statement said on Monday, adding that “the great logistical challenge has been met in an orderly and safe manner, in coordination with all its partners. .”

Macron has previously said that the “heart” of the French operation will move to Niger, especially in the region bordering Burkina Faso. The so-called Barkhane force is also involved in Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

French forces have been active in Mali since 2013, when they intervened to oust Islamic extremists from power. But the insurgents regrouped in the desert and began attacking the Malian army and its allies. An August 2020 coup led by Colonel Assimi Goita seized power in Mali. Goita carried out a second coup by ousting the civilian leaders of Mali’s transitional government and putting himself in charge last year.

Following Macron’s military withdrawal announcement in February, European leaders also said an EU-led military task force known as Takuba will also withdraw from Mali. They criticized the Malian junta for hiring the Wagner Group, which the EU accuses of fomenting violence and committing human rights abuses in Africa.

Macron and other European leaders have repeatedly said that military withdrawals from Mali will not result in the abandonment of the population of the Sahel region in their fight against Islamic extremists.

After leaving Mali, “the French armed forces continue to fight terrorism in the Sahel, in close coordination with our African and international partners,” the French army statement said.

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