The end of a military intervention that began in 2013, with Operation Serval. The last French troops of the Barkhane anti-jihadist force have left Mali, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Monday, August 15.
News that is also accompanied by a press release from the Presidency of the Republic in which the Head of State Emmanuel Macron “welcomes the success of this operational and logistical manoeuvre” and pays tribute “to the commitment of all the soldiers who, during nine years, they have fought against armed terrorist groups on Malian soil.
“His sacrifice obliges us”
“There are fifty-nine who have paid the price of their lives fighting, together with the African and European armies, for our security and the security of the populations of the Sahel”, can also be read in this press release.
“Their sacrifice compels us and reminds us that our soldiers, during these years, have preserved Mali’s unity, have prevented the establishment of a territorial caliphate and have fought against terrorist groups that hit local populations and threaten Europe,” still written? there.
Finally, the Presidency of the Republic salutes the “efficiency” of the French armed forces on the ground “demonstrated by the neutralization of most of the top executives in the hierarchy of Sahelian terrorist groups”.
Emmanuel Macron formalized last February the withdrawal of French forces and their European allies from the African country while “completely” rejecting the notion of “failure”. “The political, operational and legal conditions no longer exist to effectively carry out its current military commitment in the fight against terrorism in Mali,” the Elysée had justified then in a press release.
Source: BFM TV
