“France is not leaving Mali,” said Florence Parly, France’s minister of the armed forces, after her meeting in Bamako with Colonel Sadio Camara, her Malian counterpart, on 20 September. The minister – who embarked on a mini-tour of the Sahel that also took her to Niger, a country that is set to become the cornerstone of French military strategy in the region when the ‘tactical redeployment’ of Operation Barkhane becomes fully effective – knows that the current situation is particularly tense.
Although information regarding the details of the ongoing operations is trickling out, the partial French withdrawal has already begun. Paris promises to remain present – but with reduced numbers – and continue its strategy of targeted strikes against jihadist leaders, such as the “neutralisation” of Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS). President
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