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However, Macron said at a press conference ahead of the G7 summit, that the mission, known as Operation Barkhane, would be replaced by greater international efforts. He added that additional details would be announced “in the coming weeks”.
France currently has 5,100 troops in the region in connection with Operation Barkhane, and operates in Chad, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso, according to the French Defense Ministry.
Despite their efforts, Islamist forces continued to foment instability in the region, nearly a decade after French forces were first deployed in Mali to contain their advance. Meanwhile, in France, Operation Barkhane is increasingly seen as a prolonged drain on resources with no clear end in sight.
Macron said France would now consult with its US and European partners and embark on a “deep transformation” of France’s military presence in the Sahel.
“This shift will translate into a paradigm change” with a “new framework” which means “the end of Barkhane as an external process, to allow operation of support and cooperation with militaries in countries [Sahel] the area you request.
“The time has come. Our continued commitment in the Sahel cannot be the same. We will go with our partners on our side but also with the countries of the region (…) to draw conclusions about what worked (…) and what did not.”
Macron said Operation Barkhane would be replaced by “a military operation and an international coalition, linking the countries of the region with all our partners, and strictly limited to the fight against terrorism.”
He said the Takoba Task Force – the French-led European Military Task Force that advises, assists and accompanies the Malian armed forces in the Sahel – will be central to this effort. He added that the French army will form the “backbone” of that force, which will be complemented by special forces from European countries and partner countries in the region.
Macron stressed that “the long-term presence of France in foreign operations cannot be a substitute for the return of the state and state services to political stability and the choice of sovereign states” in the region.
“We cannot secure areas that are once again in a state of instability because countries have decided not to assume their responsibility. This is impossible,” he said.
At Mali’s request, France – the former colonial power – launched Operation Serval, a UN-sanctioned land and air operation against Islamist militants, in January 2013. The plan was to expel the jihadists and prevent them from moving to the capital, Bamako.
The United Nations deployed a peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, and the French mission succeeded in August 2014 with Operation Barkhane, a broader French counter-terrorism mission targeting Islamists in the Sahel.
In recent months, the French government has been frustrated by the political turmoil in Mali, where a new leader was announced late last month following the second coup in less than a year.
In an interview on May 29 with the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche, Macron threatened to withdraw French forces from Mali if the country drifted toward radical Islam.
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