Three French helicopters, backed by fighter planes, took off from military bases deep in the African coast, and their mission was to support a French "commando" operation on the ground, tracking down armed men on small trucks and motorcycles in the Liptako region , In Mali. Unfortunately, two helicopters flying low were destroyed in complete darkness, and the result was the death of 13 French soldiers, the youngest of whom was 22.

The deaths rocked France, and this incident revived questions about exactly what the French forces are doing in this vast, semi-arid, sub-Saharan belt. At a summit in Pau, southwestern France, which brought together the leaders of the five Sahel states, on January 13, President Emmanuel Macron tried to provide an answer, and declared that France was there to achieve security and stability. Macron said in an angry tone: "If an African country ever requests the French army not to remain there, then we will leave."

Ironically

Meanwhile, the paradoxes and suffering of the soldiers in the French operation, known as "Berkhan", were exposed due to these deaths, as well as the large number of deaths of the African forces. At the beginning of January, 89 soldiers from Niger died in an ambush targeting a military site in Chennai, near the border with Mali. This came after a separate attack on a military base in Niger, in Enatz, killing 71 soldiers. The border areas between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have become a region of chronic instability, smuggling and armed activity. This happened in the Sahel region, after the collapse of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and Libya's descent into chaos. Marc Antoine Perrouz, who has written a new book on the French presence on the coast, says France has been drawn into what he called an "impossible mission".

Coast Group

It was the former French President, Francois Hollande, who sent French forces to Mali, in 2013, to counter the expansion of armed groups, and this was not supposed to be a permanent operation, however, seven years later, 4,500 French soldiers are still there. In theory, they help train and work alongside a combined force of 5,000, from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, known as the “Five Coast Countries”, but these forces, unlike Chad, are not qualified to do the job. There is also a United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali, with a strength of about 15,000 personnel.

Macron, who belongs to a generation that did not know Africa under French colonial rule, took office in 2017, and was keen to take a less strict patriarchal approach than his predecessors did. He established relations with non-French-speaking countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, promised to return African artworks from Paris, and spoke of "colonial crimes." Macron considers the French operation against the militants on the coast "very necessary" in the struggle against "terrorism", which France feels is a burden it bears on behalf of others.

Therefore, due to the apparent frustration, Macron also finds himself the target of a hostile campaign against France in the region. In this context, demonstrators in the capital of Mali, Bamako, and in neighboring Niger, have called for French forces to leave, and critics accuse France of supporting authoritarian rulers, and at the same time, politicians on the continent are dismayed by French efforts.

Amid the accusations and counter-accusations, the purpose of the last summit in Pau, according to a French official, was to "clarify". And Macron announced in December, during the NATO summit in London, that he "cannot and will not keep French soldiers on the ground on the coast, as long as there is ambiguity about whether they are welcome or not." In Pau, the French president received official confirmation from the leaders of the five Sahel states of their desire to continue French military participation in the Sahel.

Alone

Yet France finds itself increasingly alone, with only limited help from Britain, Denmark, Estonia and Germany, and it is trying to help build local capacity. Its true partner, however, is the United States, which operates its own counter-terrorism activities in the region, including an air base and drones in Agadez, in the desert in central Niger, and another observation center in the north. Now, the “Pentagon” is considering reducing its operations. "We are stuck," said researcher at the Institute for Strategic Research, Francois Hesburg. "We are in the place we don't want to be." "It is a small Afghanistan."

"Barkhan" operation

Since 2014, the French military leadership has replaced Operation Sarval with Operation Burkhan with 4,500 soldiers deployed in the Sahel region of the Sahara Desert, but the horizon appears dark, despite years of continuous presence. Despite the training efforts of the European Union, the United Nations Mission in Mali and the "Barkhan" force, the national armies of the Sahel countries, which are among the poorest countries in the world, seem unable to stop the attacks. Since the beginning of French engagement in the region, there has been no progress, but the situation has deteriorated, indicating that the solution is not a military one.

Macron regards the French operation against the militants in the Sahel as "absolutely necessary" in the struggle against "terrorism".

- 4,500

A French soldier who have been in the African coast for 7 years.