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G5 Sahel summit: Operation Barkhane in 3 questions

2021-02-14T14:52:17.290Z


Emmanuel Macron meets, by videoconference, the heads of state of the G5 Sahel this Monday for a decisive meeting for the future of the operation m


This Monday February 15 opens a decisive summit for the future of Operation Barkhane, bringing together Emmanuel Macron and the heads of state of the G5 Sahel (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania).

Due to the “health context” linked to the Covid-19 epidemic and because, the borders being closed, “it applies the same constraints as the French”, the President of the Republic will not go to N ' Djamena, the Chadian capital, but will participate in the meeting by videoconference from the Elysee Palace.

If there is no question of withdrawing French troops, a "readjustment" of the device could be announced.

Three questions to take stock.

1. What assessment for Barkhane, eight years later?

On January 11, 2013, President François Hollande launched Operation Serval to stop the offensive by katibas - battalions - jihadists threatening the Malian capital, Bamako.

From a few hundred men at the start, special forces in particular, French troops have grown to 5,100 since the "surge" ordered by Emmanuel Macron in January 2020, with the reinforcement of 600 soldiers.

"If we are still present at the end of eight years, it is because the project of the armed terrorist groups (GAT), allied with the big power stations that are Al-Qaeda and Daesh, is unchanged: to make sharia rule", explains the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly.

Barkhane's record (who replaced Serval in 2014) is mixed.

On the one hand, undeniable “tactical successes”, with the “neutralization” (elimination in military language) of important sheikhs and many jihadists, the squaring of areas in the highly sensitive region of the Three Borders (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) , the hardening of local Sahelian armies and the (too) timid setting up of sustainable development operations in an attempt to “fix” the populations.

"The surge made it possible to save the Sahel a second time", they boast at the Elysee.

However, this epicenter of terrorism remains fragile and moving: "If we fall back, tomorrow everything will start again", admits a senior officer.

The Islamic State group in the Great Sahara (EIGS), vassal of Daesh, is weakened and divided, "its attacks by swarms of motorcycles and pick-ups against military camps are rarer and less effective", according to the military cabinet of Florence Parly.

But the RVIM (Rally for the Victory of Islam and Muslims) of Tuareg leader Iyad Ag Ghali, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, thrives on its strong local presence.

"More structured, organized in emirates and katibas coordinating their actions, this group is responsible for most of the losses

(French, editor's note)

, commits abuses against the populations, forcibly enlists the combatants", confides General Marc Conruyt, commander of the Barkhane force, for whom "Ag Ghali is our most formidable enemy".

"The high hierarchy of RVIM is in our target", asserts an Elyos source.

Which specifies that the Malian authorities, reluctant so far, would approve these possible "neutralizations".

2. A summit for what?

"To put pressure on the machine," loose a diplomat "off".

In the sights of Paris, the local governments which do not do enough for the return of the State - police, teachers, administration - in the immense regions handed over to terrorists.

"Because there will only be political victory," we repeat like a mantra at the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

However, these States are poor, fragile, we must help them economically, support them through training, and do everything simultaneously.

For example, the banking of the pay of Malian soldiers, to prevent it from evaporating along the payment chain ”.

Paris nevertheless judges that "the lines are moving", with signals such as the repair of markets or police stations, the resumption of an air link to localities in northern Mali or effective cooperation with the junta of colonels which overthrew the civil power in Bamako (while insisting on the imperative to organize elections as soon as possible).

In this context, and with the increase in jihadist threats to other African countries, is a partial withdrawal of Barkhane really imminent?

"A reflection is underway on the readjustment, the president is leading it in conjunction with his Sahelian counterparts", one replies at the Elysee.

On the ground, General Conruyt confined himself to answering that we will be fixed “for the great relief of the troops in March”…

The fact remains that in France support for Barkhane is weakening: for the first time an Ifop poll, carried out in early January after the death of five soldiers - including a woman - killed by explosive devices a few days apart gave a narrow majority, 51%, disapproving of the operation.

This massive and costly deployment in the Sahel (nearly one billion euros per year), while these groups have never struck on French soil, unlike the terrorists who organized the 2015 attacks from Syria, will be a stake of the presidential election of 2022. The accusations of "burrows", even categorically denied by the staff and the minister, as recently on a strike of Mirage which would have reached civilians in the Malian village of Bounti (where an investigation of the UN has been opened), sow trouble in Africa and France in a war that is also propaganda, with all the weight of the Internet and social networks.

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VIDEO.

In 2019, in the hell of a jihadist sanctuary with French soldiers

3. Can Europe get more involved?

Nothing annoys Brienne (which houses the offices of the Minister of the Armed Forces) more than to hear "France is alone in Mali", Europe staying away from this local conflict.

Marginal at the start, the European presence is slowly growing, whether motivated by solidarity between members or by the link made with the influx of migrants on the Old Continent.

The most spectacular aspect is Task Force Takuba, groups of European special forces dedicated to accompanying their Malian, Nigerien, etc. counterparts in combat.

About 40 Estonians, 60 Czechs and 150 Swedes with helicopters and a tactical aircraft are on the ground, Italians are expected and offers of service have come from the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, 'Ukraine, Slovakia and Greece.

"Disembarked in July, the Estonians are now carrying out combat missions with Barkhane and the FAMA (Malian Armed Forces)," said an officer.

Projecting soldiers from the depths of Europe into the Sahel is not intuitive, and on the scale of their national armies - 6000 for Estonia - it is a considerable effort.

If Germany participates in logistical support and in the United Nations mission (Minusma, distinct from Barkhane), it will not provide troops to Takuba, its Constitution prohibiting the sending of combatants in any operation outside the UN mandate. .

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2021-02-14

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