The French army officially handed over the keys to the Gossi base in northern Mali on Tuesday to the Malian armed forces (FAMa), a major step in the departure of the Barkhane anti-jihadist force from the country, the French general staff said. .
Nearly 300 French soldiers
"The transfer of the advanced base of Gossi has been effective since the end of the morning", indicated the spokesperson for the staff, Colonel Pascal Ianni, specifying that the base accommodated 300 French soldiers.
The move represented some 400 containers.
The post “has been restored as it is with all the defensive devices, all the equipment (…) as well as the barracks infrastructure.
We have not made a clean sweep, ”he added during a press briefing.
Barkhane in the Sahel, France's current largest external operation, mobilized up to 5,500 men on the ground in 2020 and began its transformation last summer on the decision of Emmanuel Macron, who planned to reduce this number to 2,500 or 3,000 by 2023. Paris then decided in February on a total military withdrawal from Mali, in a degraded security context and a diplomatic crisis between Paris and Bamako, where a military junta took power.
A report to protect France
Colonel Ianni said Tuesday that a "documented" inventory of the base had been drawn up, in particular to protect France from possible accusations in the months to come.
An allusion to the anti-French sentiment that has gained ground in the region and has caused France to be the subject of smear campaigns on social networks.
“We are susceptible to informational and reputational attacks.
Several months ago, the French forces were accused of participating in trafficking (…), of arming terrorists and even of committing abuses”, noted Colonel Ianni.
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