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France and Allies to Begin Withdrawal From Mali France and Allies to Begin Withdrawal From Mali
(about 3 hours later)
France and several of its Western allies said on Thursday that they would begin a “coordinated withdrawal” of their military forces from Mali, accusing the junta that recently came to power there of obstructing antiterrorist operations that the French Army has been spearheading in the Sahel region over the past decade. France and several of its Western allies said on Thursday that they would begin a “coordinated withdrawal” of their military forces from Mali, capping months of an increasingly bitter breakdown in relations with the junta that came to power in the African country in 2020. The pullback would also throw antiterrorism operations spearheaded by the French Army in the region into uncertainty.
Jihadist groups have spread across the West African country and to its neighbors, even as a coalition of Western and African militaries has tried to fight them. Nevertheless, France, its partners in Europe and Canada “have taken the decision to withdraw their military presence in Mali,” said President Emmanuel Macron of France. Jihadist groups have spread across Mali, in West Africa, and to the country’s neighbors, even as a coalition of Western and African militaries has tried to fight them, but France, its European partners and Canada have nevertheless “taken the decision to withdraw their military presence in Mali,” said the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
The countries said in a statement that they remained “committed to supporting Mali and its people in their efforts to achieve sustainable peace and stability,” but that the country’s new leaders were responsible for “multiple obstructions,” and that “the political, operational and legal conditions are no longer met to effectively continue their current military engagement in the fight against terrorism in Mali.” The accelerated pullout, a far quicker and bumpier withdrawal than France had anticipated, could give ground to terrorist groups, which have grown in numbers and reach over the past decade. It also raises questions about the use of a military-first approach in a complex crisis with deep social roots.
The statement said that the countries would “continue their joint action against terrorism in the Sahel region, including in Niger and in the Gulf of Guinea, and have begun political and military consultations with them with the aim to set out the terms for this shared action by June 2022.” President Emmanuel Macron of France was expected to provide more details of the move at a news conference on Thursday. At a news conference, Mr. Macron expressed frustration with the Malian junta and said that the breakdown in relations had prompted France and its allies to rethink their strategy and reorganize their forces.
France sent troops into Mali, a landlocked West African country, in 2013 to beat back armed Islamists who had taken over its northern cities. The campaign was only supposed to last a few weeks. Over 4,000 French soldiers are currently deployed across the Sahel, a wide strip of land that cuts across Africa just below the Sahara. Most of them are in Mali, where there is also a 15,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force.
Nearly ten years later, thousands of French soldiers are still there, housed in sprawling air-conditioned bases, operating aircraft including drones and traversing the scrub in state-of-the-art armored cars. They are searching for an elusive enemy, armed with AK-47s and moving on motorcycles, that is growing in reach and number, despite the stream of jihadist leaders that France reports it has killed. “We cannot remain militarily engaged with de facto authorities whose strategy and hidden objectives we do not share,” Mr. Macron said at the news conference, which came after a dinner on Wednesday evening between the French leader and Western and African counterparts, and ahead of a summit between European Union and African Union leaders in Brussels.
The military coalition, led by France and Mali but comprising other West African and European armies too, had long been failing to stem the tide, and worsening security was one of the factors that led to Mali’s coup in August 2020. Mr. Macron said that three military bases in Mali would be shuttered over the next four to six months, in coordination with Malian forces.
While he said that France and its allies were still discussing how their forces would be redeployed, he suggested that there would be a pivot to neighboring Niger and a bigger focus on countries in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as on programs to help civilian populations before military operations become necessary.
“The expectations of our partners have changed,” Mr. Macron said. “The sensibility of public opinion in countries of the region has also changed.”
Beginning in Mali in 2012, terrorist groups across the Sahel took up arms against their governments, taking advantage of existing grievances held by marginalized communities, recruiting young men with few prospects and cowing villages in rural areas into submission.
Groups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso attack armies who are ill trained or poorly equipped to maintain security in the vast tracts of land that comprise the sand-swept region, and whose own abuses often make things worse. The jihadists also attack civilians; massacres have become a regular occurrence.
France sent troops into Mali, a landlocked former French colony, in 2013 to beat back armed Islamists who had taken over its northern cities. The soldiers received an ecstatic welcome. Their campaign was only supposed to last a few weeks.
Nearly 10 years later, thousands of French soldiers are still there, housed in sprawling air-conditioned bases, operating aircraft including drones, and traversing the scrub in state-of-the-art armored cars. They are searching for insurgent groups armed with assault rifles and moving on motorcycles whose members have proved stubbornly elusive despite the stream of jihadist leaders that France reports it has killed.
The military coalition, led by France and Mali but comprising other West African and European armies, too, had long been failing to stem the tide, and worsening security was one of the factors that led to Mali’s coup in August 2020. As its counterterrorism mission in the Sahel, Operation Barkhane, was prolonged, the popularity of the French-led intervention plummeted.
France announced last June that it would begin to draw down its troops fighting under Barkhane, which receives operational support from the United States. But even as Barkhane wound down, a European task force spearheaded by the French, called Takuba, prepared to begin. Takuba brought together Special Forces from several European nations to share the burden of the fight against jihadists in the region.
Now even Takuba’s future is uncertain: Mr. Macron said that some of that operation’s forces would be repositioned in Niger, but under what name or with what mandate was unclear.
The Western countries said in a statement that they remained “committed to supporting Mali and its people in their efforts to achieve sustainable peace and stability” but that the country’s new leaders were responsible for “multiple obstructions” and that the current conditions meant that they could no longer contribute to the fight against terrorism there.
The statement added that the countries would continue their coordinated action against terrorism in the broader region, with new terms to be established by June 2022.
In light of the withdrawal, it appeared that Mali’s military partnerships would now shrink to those with other African countries and with Russia.
Referring to the Malian junta, Mr. Macron said, “The fight against terrorism cannot justify everything,” such as attempts to “indefinitely remain in power” and the use of violent mercenaries, a reference to the Wagner group, a Russia-backed mercenary organization that France has accused of operating in Mali.
Analysts said, however, that the withdrawal could provide an opportunity for alternative approaches to stemming the spread of jihadist groups, including the possibility of dialogue with the militants, for example, and the implementation of a long-neglected peace agreement with rebel groups in Mali’s north.