"Opération Barkhane" ended: France withdraws the last soldiers from Mali

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Withdrawal from Mali: French soldiers patrol in the city of Gao (photo from December 2021)

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THOMAS COEX / AFP

After more than nine years, the last soldiers of the French military mission Barkhane have left the West African crisis country of Mali.

As announced by the French general staff, the last unit crossed the border to neighboring Niger on Monday.

The military junta that has been in power in Bamako since 2020 had urged France to withdraw its soldiers.

France had been deployed in Mali since 2014 with Operation Barkhane, in which up to 4,500 soldiers were involved at times, to combat transnational Islamist terror.

After two coups, relations between Mali and the former colonial power France had deteriorated drastically.

In February, President Emmanuel Macron announced the withdrawal of troops, and in May the military junta canceled the defense agreements with France.

Tensions were also heightened by the junta's cooperation with the Russian mercenary force Wagner.

A number of armed groups are active in the region.

Some have pledged allegiance to the terrorist groups Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda.

Despite the massive tensions with the junta in Bamako, France wants to remain involved in the Sahel.

France is also withdrawing from the UN mission Minusma, which the UN Security Council had only extended to 2023 at the end of June.

The mission, in which the Bundeswehr is also involved, loses French attack helicopters as air support.

Mali, with around 20 million inhabitants, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered to be extremely unstable politically.

Since the most recent coup in May 2021, the country has been run by a military government that is said to maintain close ties with Russia.

On Friday, the Bundeswehr suspended its mission in Mali until further notice because the Malian government had repeatedly refused overflight rights.

On Monday, however, the Federal Ministry of Defense announced that it would again bring German reinforcements for the Bundeswehr contingent of the MINUSMA mission to Mali this week.

"The next flight is scheduled for August 18," said a spokesman.

Over the weekend, a solution to the problem of the Malian transitional government refusing overflight rights became apparent.

According to Malian information, Minusma agreed to a new approval process for the rotation of troop units.

fek/dpa/AFP