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In the Sahel, Operation Takuba is over

2022-07-01T16:04:42.242Z


The force, bringing together some 800 European soldiers, announced on Friday that it was ending its mission, no longer able to collaborate with the Malian army.


The end of Takuba will have given rise neither to farewells nor to a particular ceremony.

The “task force” made up of European special forces and set up to support the operations of the Malian army definitively ceased its activities on Thursday.

Since the decision, taken last February, to withdraw the French forces from Mali, it had already stopped its “

joint

” operations with the Malian armed forces (Fama).

She pursued them alone.

A little over four months later, "

there are no more European soldiers from Takuba in Mali

", announced the general staff of the armies on Friday.

The last left on Thursday.

"

There were no signs from the Malians to mark in one way or another the cessation of operations

 ", we say without regret.

Takuba disappears without a word.

The end of Operation Barkhane, with the closure of the Gao base, is still scheduled for the end of the summer.

Ten countries involved

The Takuba experience lasted two years.

Launched on March 27, 2020, the task force set foot in the Sahel on July 15, 2020. But its "

full operational capacity"

was not announced until April 2, 2021. The political break between Bamako and the Europeans was then right from her.

At the beginning of the year, Bamako, among its ultimate provocations, had thus prevented the deployment of a Danish detachment, on the pretext of legal obstacles.

Ten countries took part in Takuba: France, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Hungary and Denmark.

In reality, besides the French, only the Estonians and the Czechs contributed to the "task groups" which accompanied the Fama in their training, but also in combat.

Sweden provided the elements of an intervention group.

Italy medical evacuation capabilities.

The other nations participated in the project in a more limited way, with liaison officers.

In all, Takuba mustered 800 troops stationed in Menaka and Gao.

The French represented "

a little less than half of the workforce

".

The project was initially designed to take over from Barkhane and become “a

European defense laboratory”.

Russian Informational Attacks

For the staff, the results are satisfactory.

Takuba claims 75 operations, 85% of which benefit the Fama.

Its mission was to prepare Malian soldiers, particularly within Light Reconnaissance and Intervention Units (ULRI), and to accompany them in combat.

At the end, a soldier from Takuba supervised "

two to three Malian soldiers

", suggesting a possible autonomy in the medium term.

The momentum will likely be lost.

No European soldier was killed during this mission despite "a dozen attacks suffered", with improvised explosive devices or indirect fire.

Head of State Emmanuel Macron, in his speeches at Barkhane, hoped that “

the spirit of Takuba will endure.

As such, however, the operation is complete.

“It responded to a particular situation of the Fama

”, we explain within the staff: the fight against the Islamic State in the greater Sahara in the Three Borders area in Mali.

A specific legal framework had been created.

It no longer exists and the European partners cannot free themselves from it.

"

Discussions are ongoing

 ," it is said, however, to leverage Takuba's experience for other countries in the sub-Saharan region.

The situation in Benin, Togo or Côte d'Ivoire is not that of Mali

,” it is pointed out.

France will however have to convince its partners to return, while the fight against terrorism is compounded by the growing predatory influence of Russia.

In Mali, the time has come for “

informational attacks

 ” against France, with false testimonies propagating, for example, the idea that soldiers from Operation Barkhane have collaborated with terrorist groups.

These rumors are spread on the internet by accounts linked to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

The Europeans were apparently not affected by these operations.

"

Takuba was not the subject of an informational maneuver

 ", says one within the staff.

"

It is France which is targeted by a strategy of eviction and discrediting

", we add.

Takuba probably didn't have time to put down roots to become a target.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-07-01

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