The French armed forces will begin closing their bases in northern Mali by the end of the year and plan to complete this process in 2022.
This is what Emmanuel Macron announced after meeting with the leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.
“Due to the spread of the threat in the south, this remodeling will begin with a reduction in our military presence in the northern part of the region,” Macron added.
The French president added that the reconstitution of French troops will begin in the Sahel region in the coming weeks, TASS news agency reports.
It is recalled that the French armed forces are conducting a ‘Barhan’ counter-terrorism operation in Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. The main objective is to combat radical Islamists in these countries.
Operation Barkhane is an ongoing anti-insurgent operation that started on August 1, 2014, and is led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa’s Sahel region. It consists of a roughly 5,000-strong French force, which is permanently headquartered in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.
