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France to Pull More Than 2,000 Troops From Africa's Sahel

Associated Press

   PARIS - France will withdraw more than 2,000 troops from an
   anti-extremism force in Africa's Sahel region by early next year and
   pivot its military presence to specialized regional forces instead,
   President Emmanuel Macron said Friday.

   Macron announced last month a future reduction of France's military
   presence, arguing that it's no longer adapted to the needs in the area.
   The French Barkhane force, operating in Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso
   and Mauritania, also had met opposition from some Africans.

   After discussions Friday with leaders of the African countries
   involved, Macron announced that France would reduce its force to 2,500
   to 3,000 troops over the long term. The country currently has 5,000
   troops in the region.

   The French leader insisted that his country was not abandoning African
   partners and would keep helping them fight groups linked to al-Qaida
   and the Islamic State group.
   French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference at
   the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, July 9, 2021.

   "France doesn't have the vocation or the will to stay eternally in the
   Sahel," Macron said. "We are there because we were asked to be."

   French troops have been present in Mali since 2013, when they
   intervened to force Islamic extremist rebels from power in towns across
   the country's north. Operation Serval was later replaced by Barkhane
   and was expanded to include other countries in an effort to help
   stabilize the broader Sahel region.

   Islamic militants, though, have continued to launch devastating attacks
   against the militaries fighting them as well as increasingly against
   civilians.

   Hundreds have died since January in a series of massacres targeting
   villages on the border of Niger and Mali.

   While governments in the Sahel have embraced France's military help,
   some critics have likened the troops'presence to a vestige of French
   colonial rule.

   France will focus over the next six months on dismantling the Barkhane
   operation and reorganizing the troops, Macron said.

   The French military will shut down Barkhane bases in Timbuktu, Tessalit
   and Kidal in northern Mali over the next six months, and start to
   reconfigure its presence in the coming weeks to focus particularly on
   the restive border area where Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger meet.

   Niger President Mohamed Bazoum, speaking at Macron's side, welcomed the
   French military support and training, but on African terms.
   FILE - A French soldier stands inside a military helicopter in Gao,
   northern Mali, May 19, 2017.

   "The main thing is that France maintains the principle of its support,
   its cooperation and support for the armed forces of our different
   countries. We need France to give us what we don't have. We don't need
   France to give us what we already have," he said, without elaborating.
   He acknowledged failings of local armed forces but also praised their
   courage in fighting extremists.

   France's military presence in the future will focus on neutralizing
   extremist operations and strengthening and training local armies,
   Macron said. "There will also be a dimension of reassurance ... to
   remain permanently ready to intervene rapidly in support of partner
   forces," notably via military aviation from Niger and Chad.

   This new structure "seems to us to respond better to the evolution of
   the threat," he said. Once the reorganization is complete, he said,
   "the Barkhane operation will close down."

   Some experts say that France's decision may be linked to growing
   political instability in Mali.

   Macron's June announcement came days after Mali coup leader Colonel
   Assimi Goita was sworn in as president of a transitional government,
   solidifying his grip on power in the West African nation after carrying
   out his second coup in nine months.

   Late in June, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a
   resolution extending the U.N. peacekeeping mission in crisis-racked
   Mali and said it's "imperative" that the military government
   holdpresidential and legislative elections on schedule next February.

   The council maintained the ceilings in the U.N. force at 13,289
   military troops and 1,920 international police, but it asked
   Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make a recommendation on the
   force level given growing levels of insecurity and physical violence
   against the civilian populations in central Mali.