- After years of its counterinsurgency operations in Sahel region, France now vows to wind down its presence in the Sahel region.
- Recently, dozens of civilians and soldiers were killed in several Islamist attacks across this vast and dangerous three-border region that straddles Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
After years of its counterinsurgency operation in the Sahel region, France now vows to wind down its presence in the Sahel region. Recently, dozens of civilians and soldiers were killed in several Islamist attacks across this vast and dangerous three-border region that straddles Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
There are strong similarities between US involvement and withdrawal from Afghanistan, and France’s operations in the Sahel region spanning five West and Central African countries. Both the countries were involved for years in countries with weak and unstable governments and their operations have led to troop fatigue, fatalities, and falling support at home. Both are against Islamist groups, who are resilient and confident they will outlast their enemy.
France’s military intervention in that region started in 2013 to fight jihadist groups in Mali, it later expanded to four other vulnerable former colonies — Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. Unlike the U.S., France apparently has no sudden plans of complete withdrawal of its forces from the Sahel, a vast area below the Sahara. French President Macron announced in July that France’s Barkhane operation would formally end early next year. Troops would be reduced to half their current numbers and shifted to other anti-terrorist missions. The French plan is to gradually start reducing its 5,100-troop Barkhane operation, the linchpin of a regional counterterrorism fight. But the mayhem at Kabul’s airport after the withdrawal of US troops may be an indicator for France on how to plan their withdrawal. Though not withdrawing, the French are downsizing and still remain the biggest military force in the region.
