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Serval, Barkhane: nine and a half years of French military engagement in the Sahel

2022-08-15T15:46:37.186Z


FOCUS - The last French soldiers from the Barkhane anti-jihadist force left Mali on Monday after nine years of presence, against a backdrop of stormy relations between Paris and the ruling junta in Bamako.


Reminder of the key dates since the launch in 2013 in Mali of the French operation Serval, relayed in 2014 by Barkhane, who completed his withdrawal from the country on Monday August 15, pushed out by the military junta in power.

As part of these operations, 53 French soldiers died.

Serval

In March 2012, separatist rebels, quickly ousted by their Islamist allies associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi), took control of Kidal, Gao then Timbuktu (northern Mali).

On January 11, 2013, Paris launched Operation Serval to stem the progress of jihadists.

At the end of January, French soldiers retook Gao, entered Timbuktu without a fight and seized Kidal airport.

Shortly after, French President François Hollande was welcomed as a liberator.

In July, a UN mission, Minusma, takes over from a pan-African force.

French troops from Operation 'Licorne' arrive at the military airbase near Bamako on January 15, 2013 to reinforce Operation 'Serval' troops.

ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP

Barchan

In May 2014, Tuareg and Arab rebel groups recaptured Kidal.

On August 1, Serval was replaced by Barkhane, a regional operation, then 3,000 French soldiers strong in the Sahel.

In May-June 2015, the Algiers peace agreement was signed between the Malian government and the former Tuareg rebellion.

But its implementation remains embryonic.

The violence spread to the south, Burkina Faso and Niger.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reviews the honor guard of French soldiers from the Operation Barkhane air detachment in Niamey, December 31, 2014. DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP

Attacks

From 2015, multiplication of attacks against Sahelian or foreign forces, as well as places frequented by foreigners.

In March 2017, jihadists linked to AQIM united in a "

Support Group for Islam and Muslims

" (GSIM).

At the end of 2019, thirteen French soldiers were killed in the accidental collision of two helicopters.

From left to right: MDL Valentin Duval, LTN Pierre Bockel, ADC Julien Carrette, CNE Romain Chomel de Jarnieu, CNE Benjamin Gireud, MCH Jérémy Leusie, SCH Andrei Jouk, MDL Antoine Serre, BCH Romain Salles de Saint-Paul, MCH Alexandre Protin , LTN Alex Morisse, CNE Nicolas Megard, CNE Clément Frison-Roche.

Ministry of Armies.

The Islamic State group in the greater Sahara (EIGS) is launching large-scale attacks against military bases in Mali and Niger.

He was designated enemy number one at a summit in early 2020 between Paris and its G5 Sahel partners (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad).

Leaders fall

At the beginning of June, the head of AQMI, the Algerian Abdelmalek Droukdel, was killed by Barkhane.

In November, Bah Ag Moussa, "

military leader

" of the GSIM, was shot dead by France.

The jihadists continue their attacks.

In August, the EIGS kills six French humanitarian workers in Niger.

The leader of the EIGS, Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahraoui, will be killed in 2021 by French forces.

Coups

On August 18, 2020, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, elected in 2013, was overthrown by a putsch after months of political crisis.

Relations between Paris and Bamako deteriorate after a new coup on May 24, 2021.

On June 10, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the gradual departure of Barkhane's 5,000 men in favor of a reduced system of 2,500 to 3,000 men.

On September 25, the Malian Prime Minister accuses France of "

abandonment in full flight

", justifying the need to "

seek other partners

".

On the 30th, Emmanuel Macron described these remarks as "

shame

".

At the end of December, around fifteen Western powers, including Paris, denounced the start of the deployment of the controversial Russian paramilitary group Wagner in Mali.

On January 9, 2022, ECOWAS closed its borders with Mali and imposed an embargo on it, sanctioning the postponement of the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for February 27.

The embargo will be lifted in July.

A Malian supporter supporting the ruling military junta holds a banner that reads "Macron is the Hitler of Mali" during a protest against France, near the Ghanaian embassy in Paris, January 15, 2022 Thomas COEX / AFP

January 24, coup in Burkina Faso, now the third country among the four where Barkhane is deployed, led by a military junta.

New escalation

At the end of January, Bamako demands from Denmark the immediate withdrawal of its soldiers recently arrived within the framework of the European grouping of special forces Takuba, claiming not to have consented to this deployment.

On the 31st, the junta decided to expel the French ambassador.

Withdrawal from Barkhane, end of Takuba

On February 17, France and its European partners formalize the withdrawal from Mali of Barkhane and Takuba.

Emmanuel Macron sets a deadline of “

four to six months

”.

On the 18th, Bamako asked Paris to withdraw its soldiers "

without delay

", a request rejected by Emmanuel Macron.

Read alsoThe disintegration of Operation Takuba, a symbol of the difficult delivery of the EU's strategic autonomy

On May 2, the junta breaks the defense agreements with Paris and its European partners.

On the 15th, Bamako announced that it was leaving the G5 Sahel.

On June 13, the French army left the Ménaka military base (east), after Gossi in April and before Gao in August.

On June 29, the UN extends Minusma for a year, now without French air support.

On July 1, Paris announces the end of Takuba.

The French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, greets the soldiers of the Barkhane force at the Ouallam military base, July 15, 2022, as part of an official visit with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to Niger.

BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

In July, diplomatic snags multiply between Bamako and Minusma.

With this disengagement from Mali, France halves its presence in the Sahel with approximately 2,500 soldiers.

From now on the French army will offer its support, but in the second line.

Paris notably retaining more than a thousand men in Niger.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-08-15

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