Mali announced on Sunday evening, May 15, 2022, its withdrawal from the Group of Five Sahel countries known as "G5", and from its military force charged with fighting armed Islamist groups in the region, in protest against its refusal to assume the presidency of this regional organization, which also includes Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso. and Niger.
The G5 Sahel is an institutional framework for coordinating regional cooperation in development policies and security affairs in West Africa.
The Sahel is a desert strip with a length of 3 million kilometers, and it has historically been a French arena of influence, but in recent decades major powers such as the United States, Russia and others have flocked to it.
Birth and founding
Spring 2012: "Jihadist" groups took control of northern Mali before an international military intervention expelled them in January 2013 at the initiative of France called Operation Serval.
- February 16, 2014: At the desire of France, the Group of Five Sahel countries was formed in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, at a summit that included 5 of the Sahel countries;
They are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
- December 19, 2014: The incorporation agreement was adopted and it is permanently based in Mauritania.
Coordination is organized at different levels, and the military side is coordinated by the chiefs of staff of the countries concerned.
The purpose of the group is to strengthen the links between economic development and security, and to combat the threat of armed organizations operating in the region (Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Tawhid Group, Al-Mourabitoun, Boko Haram).
August 1, 2014: France launched an anti-terror mission, Operation Barkhane, and deployed 3,000 soldiers to member states of the Sahel group.
anti-terrorism
December 20, 2014: With the support of the African Union, the G5 Sahel calls on the Security Council to form an international force to “neutralize armed groups, assist in national reconciliation, and establish stable democratic institutions in Libya.”
This call was opposed by Algeria.
June 2015: A peace agreement was signed with the aim of isolating the jihadists, but large areas remained outside the control of the Malian, French and international forces, which are constantly subjected to bloody attacks.
June 2017: France asked the Security Council to approve the deployment of a counter-terrorism task force of 10,000 soldiers to the G5 Sahel.
The German Bundeswehr (Army) has agreed to contribute about 900 soldiers to assist the mission, mostly used in the Gao region of northern Mali for observation purposes.
European Union Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini announced an aid of 50 million euros to allow Sahel countries to establish the force.
- Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop announced that the heads of state of the Sahel recently decided to double the number of personnel of this force from 5,000 to 10,000.
Russia and China expressed their support for the operation, while the United States and the United Kingdom did not agree on the funding.
June 20, 2017: France and the United States reach an agreement.
June 21, 2017: The Security Council unanimously approved the deployment of a counter-terrorism task force of the group, called the “Coalition for the Sahel” as a framework for providing support to the G5 Sahel, led by France and with the participation of European countries.
June 29, 2017: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that the French army would cooperate with the group.
The military force was based in the financial city of Sevare (center), before moving to the Malian capital, Bamako, after its first headquarters were attacked in June 2018.
The work was divided between France and the Group of Five Great Powers through 4 permanent military bases in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, in Gao in northern Mali, in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and Abuja, the capital of Niger.
- The joint military force amounted to about 80% of the total number of soldiers estimated at it (5,000 soldiers), and it carried out several military operations with the support and backing of the French Operation Barkhane, without its operations having a significant military impact.
February 2018: An international donors conference was held and promised to provide 414 million euros to the project of the joint military force for the Sahel countries, which was established in 2015 with French assistance.
October 2, 2018: The French Minister of the Armed Forces said in a joint press conference with her American counterpart James Mattis in Paris that "the aid that the United States intends to provide to the joint force from the five Sahel countries will increase significantly compared to what was originally planned."
Military force
October 8, 2018: French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly revealed that the joint military force of the Group of Five African Sahel countries is preparing for "3 military operations during the coming weeks to confront the jihadists."
Barley revealed that the military force consisting of Malian, Mauritanian and Chadian soldiers, in addition to soldiers from Burkina Faso and Niger, will carry out military operations during October 2018, led by the Mauritanian Lieutenant-General Hanna Ould Sidi.
January 2020: French President Emmanuel Macron announced at the Pau summit with the leaders of the five Sahel countries an increase in the number of French forces in the Sahel region by 600 soldiers.
According to the French Ministry of Armies, the number of French soldiers serving in the Sahel region of West Africa has risen to 5,100.
July 1, 2020: The Sahel Summit and France demanded a total cancellation of the group's debts to help them deal with the effects and complications of the Corona pandemic, and devote themselves to fighting "terrorism" and supporting economic and social development efforts.
At the conclusion of a summit in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, the five countries and France expressed their determination to consolidate the gains they had made against armed groups, recognizing at the same time that they face huge challenges that may make it difficult to achieve this.
As part of the fight against terrorism, the joint forces have carried out 128 combat operations in the Sahel region since 2014.
According to official French sources, Paris lost 55 soldiers in the Sahel region until mid-February 2021.
big crisis
- The group is currently experiencing a major crisis since its founding generation left power, the last of whom was Chadian President Idriss Deby, who was killed in a confrontation with the rebels on the outskirts of the capital, N'Djamena, in April 2021.
Two coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021 were preceded by the Chad crisis and Idriss Deby’s son came to power, followed by the Burkina Faso coup in 2022, which angered France and threatened the G5 Sahel to disintegrate, according to observers.
January 24, 2022: The army in Burkina Faso announces the dismissal of President Roque Kabore, the suspension of the constitution, the dismissal of the government, the dissolution of Parliament and the closure of borders.
January 26, 2022: A summit meeting took place between the foreign ministers of 4 of the group's countries (Mauritania, Mali, Chad and Niger) with the European Union's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, but the Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso was absent.
- The meeting was supposed to be an arrangement for a European summit with the countries of the group, and it was postponed due to the situation in Burkina Faso.