China News Agency, Paris, August 15 (Reporter Li Yang) The French military announced on the 15th local time that the last group of soldiers from France's "Crescent Dune" military operation in Mali, a West African country, has left.
This marks the end of the relevant military operations of the French military in Mali.
The French military issued a statement saying that the last unit of Operation Crescent Dune stationed in Mali left Mali at 1 pm Paris time on the 15th and entered Niger.
French officials said that the French army will continue to fight terrorism in Africa's Sahel region with the support of African and international partners.
According to French BFM TV, France needs to transport about 4,000 containers and 1,000 vehicles from Mali, including hundreds of armored vehicles, and hand over local military control to the Malian army.
France has launched the "Crescent Dune" military operation in the Sahel since August 2014, dispatching thousands of soldiers to cooperate with regional countries to combat terrorist organizations.
In June last year, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France's military presence in the Sahel would undergo a profound transformation.
Operation "Crescent Dune" will gradually be relegated to an anti-terrorist military operation supported by international forces.
In February, Macron laid out France's plans to fight terrorist groups in Africa.
When talking about the reasons for the withdrawal of French troops from Mali, he said that the French side has been unable to maintain military contact with the Malian authorities, and the attitude of the Malian authorities forced France to withdraw its troops.
He then expected the withdrawal of French and related countries from Mali to last four to six months.
Macron also stressed that France will continue to support African countries in their fight against terrorism.
The security situation in the Sahel region, including Mali, is currently not optimistic.
The Malian government said last week that 42 Malian soldiers were killed in a recent attack by militants.
According to the AFP report on the 15th, citing the findings of relevant agencies, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso since the beginning of this year.
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