Currently, some 5,100 French soldiers from Barkhane are deployed in the Sahel against jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda.
In mid-February, during a summit in N'Djamena with his G5 Sahel partners (Mali, Mauritania, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger), President Emmanuel Macron announced that he did not wish to reduce the workforce "immediately". de Barkhane, calling first to "behead" jihadist groups.
Except that France has lost 50 soldiers in the region and French public opinion is less and less favorable to this mission one year before the presidential election.
Doubts are growing about the ability to win this war.
However, according to a report of the Defense Committee of the National Assembly signed by two deputies of the presidential party (LREM) and of the Republicans (right), "France is not bogged down in the Sahel: there is today" There is no solution without Barkhane ”, he affirms, while acknowledging that this presence will have to evolve as its partners increase in power.
As for the future, “the format” of the French system is “not fixed” and “Barkhane will evolve as the commitment of our partners, Sahelians and Westerners is amplified,” said the report, adding that this could evolve towards "a regional structural cooperation mechanism, the increasing responsibility of local forces not leading to the complete withdrawal of French troops."
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The parliamentarians believe that “the stabilization of the Sahel will take many years, and the honor of France would be to remain engaged as long as necessary.
The problem is that African states are struggling to convert military success into political progress.
