Paris-Sana
The French Chief of Staff announced today that the French army will officially withdraw from the Menaka military base in northeastern Mali to hand it over to the Malian armed forces in the penultimate stage of the French military withdrawal at the request of the Malian authorities.
The French General Staff spokesman, General Pascal Yani, told AFP that the French soldiers will leave Mali permanently at the end of the summer with the transfer of their main stronghold in Gao to the Malian armed forces.
The Menaka base in the area known as the border triangle between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso houses French and European special forces.
Mali had asked France last February to withdraw its soldiers immediately, a day after Paris and its partners announced a phased withdrawal in the coming months.
A spokesman for the Malian government described the results of the French military presence for nine years as not satisfactory.
The country witnessed widespread protests denouncing the French military presence, which reminds of the French colonization of it.
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