ON DECRYPT
Monday evening, thirteen French soldiers were killed in the collision of two helicopters in Mali, where France is engaged in Operation Barkhane since 2013, during fighting against jihadists. With this heavy toll, which brings the losses to 41 dead since the start of operations six years ago, the thorny issue of the French military presence in the Sahel against the regional threat has rested since the announcement of their deaths on Tuesday, and while the area wants to regain full stability.
Caliphate of the desert
To try to see more clearly, we must go back a little bit. When the French armies launched the military operations in Mali in January 2013, the entire north of the country is under the yoke of jihadists, with a real small desert caliphate, from which two columns of fighters armed to the teeth leave. They hustle the Malian positions along the Niger River and threaten to seize the capital, Bamako, without anything to stop them.
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France has therefore taken responsibility by arresting these columns and destroying the rear bases of the jihadists it pushed back to the depths of the desert. Today, these are only small isolated bands, which can still lay mines and attack villages or organize spectacular terrorist attacks, but the presence of Barkhane prevents them from reconstituting themselves into a military force capable of overthrowing the authorities. local.
Authorities still in difficulty
Military intervention does not take place in Mali: the 4,500 French soldiers deployed in the Sahel conduct daily stalking operations on a territory the size of Europe. If France withdraws its troops, on the pretext that the fight is difficult and sometimes frustrating, which nobody disputes, it would open a boulevard to Islamists whose first victims would be Africans. Under these conditions, beyond the regional threat, it would quickly be the safety of the French and Europeans that would be directly threatened in the long term.
In this context, what are the local authorities doing? The African armies concerned, grouped together in the G5 Sahel, are mobilized in different ways in the fighting. The armies of Chad and Mauritania are very autonomous and very efficient, while that of Niger is doing a good job and progressing. On the other hand, the armies of Mali and Burkina Faso are less effective in this fight against terrorism. It is besides one of the missions of Barkhane that to train them and to help them to rise in power. But there, there is no secret: it takes time.
And Europe?
Rest Europe. For the continent, it is a major challenge to commit to stabilize the region and reduce the threat. There is also a project that is taking shape: the "Takuba" operation, which consists in integrating into Barkhane small contingents of European Special Forces, whose role will be to supervise and then accompany in combat the Malian units from next year.