France and its European allies are pulling their troops out of Mali after the country’s military rule brought in Russian mercenaries and refused to stick to a calendar to hold elections.France and its allies in a European force have announced they will begin withdrawing troops from Mali after nearly 10 years fighting an armed unrest.
A statement signed by France and its African and European allies and published on Thursday said that “multiple obstructions” by the ruling military government meant that the conditions were no longer in place to operate in Mali.
The decision applies to both France’s Barkhane force in the Sahel and the Takuba European force that Paris had been trying to forge along with its allies.
“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 statement said.
The allies, therefore “decided to commence the coordinated withdrawal of their respective military resources dedicated to these operations from Malian territory”.
On his part, French President Emmanuel Macron “completely” rejected the idea that France had failed its former colony, adding: “We cannot remain militarily engaged alongside de-facto authorities whose strategy and hidden aims we do not share.”
He said that France’s bases in Gossi, Menaka and Gao in Mali would be closed within the next four to six months.
The withdrawal would be carried out in an “orderly” manner, Macron promised.
Delina Goxho, a specialist in security in the Sahel region, told Al Jazeera from neighbouring Niger’s capital, Niamey, that the withdrawal would leave a security vacuum, creating a problem for both Mali and Niger.
“In the short term, what we foresee is the vacuum in terms of security especially in the border area where most armed groups are located,” she said.
“The fact that Barkhane will not be providing security at least for a while … it will be a problem for those troops both Malian and Niger in particular. So this will have immediate consequences.”
Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in Mali, told the AFP news agency that the UN was studying the impact of the pullout and would “take the necessary steps to adapt”.
Here is a timeline of relations since the French were welcomed almost a decade ago to help stop a takeover by armed non-state actors.
Tuareg forces and rebels allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) capture the northern two-thirds of Mali in 2012
The hardline fighters quickly sideline the Tuareg, carry out atrocities and destroy mausoleums in the fabled desert city of Timbuktu.In January 2013, Mali appeals to France for help as the fighters advance southward towards the capital, Bamako.The former colonial power sends a 1,700-strong force as part of Operation Serval and routs the the fighters with help from neighbouring Chad.
France broadens its operations as violence spreads to Burkina Faso and Niger. Paris deploys 5,100 troops in five Sahel countries, in what becomes known as Operation Barkhane in 2014.
Barkhane expands the 1,700-troop deployment in Mali to a broader counterterrorism force in the Sahel. As part of the operation, some 3,000 French troops operate out of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
In May and June-2015, the Malian government and former Tuareg rebels sign a peace agreement, which is never fully implemented.Rebel leader Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui pledges allegiance to ISIL (ISIS) in May and forms the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
Twenty-five people including 16 foreigners are killed in two attacks on a hotel and a restaurant in Bamako in March and November by fighters from al-Mourabitoun, a group led by one-eyed Algerian revolutionary Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
In January 2017, al-Mourabitoun carries out a suicide bombing in a camp in Gao that leaves 77 dead and 120 wounded.Mali’s main armed groups including al-Mourabitoun merge in March to form Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate under the leadership of Tuareg fighter Iyad Ag-Ghali.
The leaders of five Sahel countries in July agree to create an anti-terror task force called “G5 Sahel” which is backed by France.
French special forces in May,2019 rescue two French hostages kidnapped in Benin and held in Burkina Faso. Two French soldiers are killed in the nighttime raid.
Thirteen French soldiers die in November when their helicopters collide in the dark as they hunt for non-state actors, highlighting the human cost of efforts to drive non-state actors out of Mali.That same month, protesters outside Bamako burn a French flag in anger over attacks in central and northern Mali.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by the military in August 2020 after several months of street protests. An interim government is created.
After the interim government’s civilian leaders remove soldiers from some key posts, coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita stages a second military takeover in May.Relations with Paris deteriorate rapidly when Goita’s group refuses to hold promised elections.
On June 10, President Emmanuel Macron says the French military presence is being reduced to between 2,500 and 3,000 troops.
Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group reportedly begin deploying in Mali at the end of December to shore up its military leaders. The military-led government denies hiring Wagner.
On January 9-2022, West African bloc ECOWAS imposes an embargo on Mali over the cancelled elections, demanding a return to civilian rule.Tensions mount and Mali expels the French ambassador on January 31.
The next day, Paris says it is giving itself two weeks to decide whether to keep its troops in Mali. Up to 1,000 Russian mercenaries are now on the ground.
On February 4, thousands of anti-French protesters take to the streets waving Russian flags and burning cardboard cut-outs of French President Emmanuel Macron in celebration of the expulsion.
Two weeks later, Macron announces the withdrawal of troops from Mali, at the EU-AU Summit in Brussels.