Is this the start of a withdrawal from Mali?

The French presidency is preparing to unveil, Thursday, June 10, an initial reduction in the anti-jihadist military operation Barkhane in the Sahel, especially in Mali, hit by a recent coup, AFP learned from three sources close to the folder.

These announcements, details of which are not yet known, are part of the political will already outlined by Emmanuel Macron to reduce the French military presence in the area in the medium term.

Asked by AFP, the army staff refused to comment.

Operation Barkhane and the situation in the Sahel were on the menu for a Defense Council meeting on Wednesday, according to several sources consulted by AFP, all of whom requested anonymity.

Paris is deploying some 5,100 soldiers against jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, a major support for the weakened armies of the Sahel states who are struggling to fight them alone.

In mid-February, during a summit in N'Djamena with G5 Sahel partners (Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania), the French president announced that Paris did not intend to reduce "immediately" Barkhane workforce.

However, he had outlined an exit strategy, in favor of European reinforcements ready to join them, while France has been fighting massively the jihadists in the Sahel since early 2013.

No negotiations with the jihadists

The situation has become more complicated in recent weeks, on the one hand with the brutal death of President Idriss Déby in Chad, and especially the second coup in eight months in Mali, the central country of Operation Barkhane.

The political upheavals in Mali question the French presence, in particular because some of the Malian leaders wish to start a negotiation process with certain jihadist groups.

France has already announced the freezing of its joint operations with the Malian army to condemn the coup, and supports international pressure exerted by ECOWAS and the African Union to push the Malian authorities to organize a transition to power. civil and elections in 2022.

>> Watch the Debate

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Terrorism in the Sahel, impotent states?

Operation Barkhane has several bases in Mali, some of which could be closed in the medium term.

The West African states mission dispatched to Mali after the second military coup was "reassured" by the commitments made by the new president, Colonel Assimi Goïta, regarding a return of civilians to power in early 2022.

With AFP

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