Several dozen people demonstrated in a town in northern Mali on Sunday to speed up the departure of the French military force Barkhane, organizers and local elected officials told AFP.
“
We are giving from this day, Sunday August 14, 2022, a 72-hour ultimatum for the definitive departure of Barkhane
”, declared demonstrators presenting themselves as “
the living forces
” of Gao, a city located in the north of the country, in the grip of to jihadist violence.
Gao is also home to the last French soldiers present in Mali, leaving for Niger.
Relations between the ruling junta in Bamako and Paris, a former colonial power, have deteriorated sharply in recent months, pushing the two countries to break up after nine years of uninterrupted French presence to fight against the jihadists.
"
Barkhane releases
", "
Barkhane godfather and ally of terrorist groups
", "
No foreign power will make Mali its booty
", brandished demonstrators on banners, according to photographs transmitted by the organizers to AFP.
"
The marchers were received by the governor's chief of staff, to whom they delivered their statement
," Issa Idrissa, the governor's communications officer, told AFP.
The demonstration was confirmed to AFP by other local officials.
These messages circulate in particular in fiercely anti-French circles and on social networks.
France regularly denounces the massive disinformation campaigns against it.
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