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Join on Telegram Denver – France has rejected Malian accusations that its forces fled the deteriorating situation in the Sahel during a press conference Monday.
Speaking at an event for students at Sciences Po Paris, France’s Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly denied the accusations, labelling them “unacceptable.”
“There is no French disengagement, I want to start by re-establishing untruths. (…) When we have 5,000 soldiers and we disengage from three rights-of-way, and we have the intention to leave several thousands more, when state-of-the-art armored vehicles are deployed in the Sahel, this is not the normal attitude of a country that intends to leave,” Parly argued.
However, there were several indications earlier this year that France was preparing local troops to take over French security roles in preparation for the end of the seven-year anti-terror mission known as Operation Barkhane.
French officials appeared to hold talks with countries in the Sahel to coordinate replacement of troops to keep some semblance of power and security in the volatile region.
After France announced its armed forces would withdraw from the region by 2022, security experts warned the Sahel could soon be the global epicenter of terror activity.
On Saturday, Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga stated the French had abandoned their mission in the region, leaving the underfunded local armies to take up security responsibilities in an increasingly volatile region.
Maiga made the comments in the context of Mali’s decision to begin discussions with the Russian private security group Wagner to take over security operations after French departure. The Wagner group is one of Russia’s most well-known mercenary companies, with previous operational experience fighting for the Al-Assad regime in Syria and Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces in eastern Libya.
According to Parly, Bamako’s decision to employ Wagner was not based on security needs, but rather a decision made to ensure the currently ruling military junta remains in power.
The French minister said she was confident Bamako’s intention “is not to keep the commitments made vis-a-vis the international community,” but rather in preparation of upcoming elections in February that could spell an end to the current establishment’s rule.
Meanwhile, the security situation in the Sahel continues to grow increasingly precarious. Security experts have noted that extremist groups have used the sparsely populated and underdeveloped area as a recruitment center, training ground, and an area for different groups to meet and potentially form alliances.
With a lack of a continued security presence, many fear the Sahel could become the main breeding grounds for global jihadism.
