#Mali : 24 hours following the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron of the orderly withdrawal of their military presence in Mali as well as participants in the Takuba special forces for a repositioning alongside the Nigerien army in the border region of Mali, the reactions are multiply.
On a working visit to France in July 2021, the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, said “to be in agreement with the imminent end of Operation Barkhane in the Sahel. He then affirmed that Paris “does not have to wage war in place of the Sahelians”. Today, many actors in Nigerien civil society are wondering regarding the decision of the French president, approved by his counterpart in Niger, to reposition the French Barkhane and European Takuba forces towards Niger.
“The Nigerian president had hammered home that we don’t need men on the ground. We do not understand this reversal. We are leading a fight once morest the imperialist forces that are on our territory. The people of the Sahel have understood that they can no longer be fooled in this way. You remember that there was the Pau summit where civil society was invited simply because France understood that African opinion does not validate its policy in Africa”, declares Maikoul Zodi, civil society activist nigerian.
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“I asked myself whether this decision has received the approval of the Nigerien Parliament, which is the emanation of the people. In my opinion, this is what should be done because Niger is sovereign,” says Adamou Yacouba, a citizen.
Some 4,600 French soldiers are deployed in the Saharo-Sahelian strip, including 2,400 in Mali. Since the beginning of Operation Barkhane, the French army has posted a death toll of 53 soldiers in its ranks.