– French President Emmanuel Macron, announced on Thursday June 10, 2021, the end of Operation Barkhane in the Sahel region.

“We are going to initiate a profound transformation of our military presence in the Sahel”, declared the French president during a press conference, referring to the 5,100 soldiers deployed as part of the French force Barkhane.

This transformation will involve “the end of Operation Barkhane as an external operation” and the “implementation of an international alliance associating the States of the region and all our partners, strictly focused on the fight against terrorism”, he added.

Paris is therefore counting on the “internationalization” of the combat support effort of local, under-equipped and under-trained forces.

The fight against the jihadists will be “with special forces structured around (the European operation) Takuba with obviously a strong French component – with several hundred more soldiers – and African, European, international forces”, also specified Mr. Macron.

In February, during a summit in N’Djamena with partners from the G5 Sahel organization, bringing together five countries in the area (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad), the French president postponed this decision in order to maintain military pressure on terrorist groups, we note.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse