Through the open door of the Caiman helicopter in tactical flight, the arid Sahelian soil, barely twenty to thirty meters below, scrolls at the speed of a TGV in a shrill din.
The gunner, wedged on a simple folding seat, secured by a sliding strap fixed to the cabin and connected by radio headset to the pilots, ready to fire with the finger on the trigger, watches for any threat, his barrel suddenly pointing to the right or the left.
About a hundred yards to the right, another Caiman is evolving.
The two aircraft took off from the huge military base-airport of Operation Barkhane in Gao, in northern Mali, to take Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces, and her Czech counterpart Lubomir Metnar, to Ménaka, in the heart of the Liptako, the region of the three borders (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso) where the strongest part of the war against the jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Daesh is taking place.
A trip of one hour and a quarter in a helicopter, but of ... several days for the road supply convoys, taking into account the state of the tracks and the delays caused by the IEDs ("improvised explosive devices", homemade bombs) or ambushes.
Flying over the two Caymans, a two-seater Tiger helicopter, with considerable firepower, provided protection for the group.
"A laboratory for defense Europe"
This Friday April 2, on the forward operational base (BOA) of Ménaka, in the heat and the dust, the French and the Czech inaugurate the HQ of the Takuba task force, a grouping of European special forces.
A first.
"The trigger is taking, it is a laboratory for defense Europe", welcomes Florence Parly.
In addition to the Czech contingent, Estonians are already taking part in Takuba (their minister Kalle Laanet is also traveling to Mali, but remained in Gao where his detachment is based), Swedes and Italians, the total strength being some 600 soldiers. , of which a good half of French.
Very discreet around their special forces, the partners do not disclose precise figures.
Takuba's mission?
Train and support Malian soldiers in the fight against armed terrorist groups (GAT).
A detachment comes to attention in front of the ministers and General Marc Conruyt, commander of the Barkhane force.
"All volunteers, courageous and determined," said the colonel of the FAMA (Malian Armed Forces), pointing to his men, anti-Covid masks and dark glasses, their fists on their ancient Kalashnikovs.
"They are Bambaras, who came from the south of the country, but there is also a Tuareg unit chief", specifies the Malian officer, in allusion to the recurring ethnic, clan, territorial conflicts - pastoralists against farmers, etc.
- on which the jihadists thrive in the Sahel.
At the Ménaka base in Mali, Florence Parly spoke with Malian soldiers.
In the background, the Czech and French special forces.
Ministry of the Armed Forces / Emilie Buzyn
Beside, a group of special forces made up of French and Czechs sport an arsenal as sophisticated as it is terrifying, an HK416 assault rifle with laser sight, Minimi 7.62 light machine gun and other precision weapons.
Even curiously relaxed draw - like this “Breizh special forces” badge - even want to do battle, the two nationalities seem to merge.
How do they understand each other?
“Bad English is our working language and things are going very well,” laughs an officer.
The Takuba task force has already carried out around 20 operations.
Concretely, sections of the FAMA in which four or five members of the special forces are involved, sometimes more depending on the mission.
“Contrary to what happened until the end of 2019 when the Malians were quickly overwhelmed by the attacks of terrorists in pick-ups and motorcycles, these recruits are very committed, are seasoned, remain in the fight, have confidence in our support aircraft and our drones ”, appreciates a French soldier who practiced the same type of missions with the Kurdish fighters in the Levant.
France has helped the Malian forces, which still regularly suffer severe losses, to equip themselves with 4x4s, bulletproof vests and other equipment, and is now counting on the European Union to take over the financial burden.
"Total confidence" in the French troops
But will Europe want to get more involved, at a time when the French army is accused by a report from the Minusma (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali) of having killed civilians during a aerial bombardment on January 3 on the edge of the village of Bounti?
In Bamako, with the Malian transitional government resulting from the 2020 putsch, Florence Parly refuted any blunders.
In Gao, she delivered a message of “total confidence” to Barkhane's soldiers: “fighting against terrorist organizations is a difficult, demanding, long and asymmetrical fight: you respect these constraints without ever deviating from any ethics”.
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Relying on the "robustness" of its intelligence, the army claims to have "neutralized" jihadists in Bounti.
“For the UN, a terrorist is necessarily someone who is shooting at us;
however, the enemy we are facing may very well be a shepherd for three hours, carry a weapon or place an IED for the following three hours, ”decrypts a soldier familiar with the matter.
Why not show the images of the drones?
"No army would take the risk of weakening itself by revealing itself in this way," replied Florence Parly.
Even if we did, it would seem that we were hiding others, it's a never-ending trial… ”
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Why Emmanuel Macron maintains the French military presence in the Sahel
For now, Europe is not backing down.
On the contrary, his still timid participation in Takuba will increase.
The Italians will arrive with their "armada" of eight helicopters to set up an evacuation system, the engagement of the Danes, Portuguese, Greeks, Slovaks and perhaps Ukrainians (outside the EU) is "in the pipes", according to the report. Florence Parly's office.
"The security of Europe," the Czech minister told his French colleague, "is played out on its eastern flank
(Editor's note: the Russian threat)
and on its southern flank, we must be united.
"
