France and partners to withdraw military forces from Mali

Sahel – Joint declaration on the fight against the terrorist threat and the support to peace and security in the Sahel and West Africa

France and its European partners are to begin a military withdrawal from Mali after more than nine years fighting a jihadist insurgency, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, confirmed.

Asked at the Élysée if the withdrawal marked a failure for France and its policy of fighting terrorism in west Africa, Macron said: “I completely reject that term.”

France first deployed troops against jihadists in Mali in 2013 under the Socialist president François Hollande, but the insurgency was never fully quelled, and there are now fears of a jihadist push to the Gulf of Guinea.

Relations between France and Mali have deteriorated after two coup d’états and the military regime’s reluctance to agree to an immediate transition to civilian rule. The presence of Russian mercenary forces from the private military Wagner group has increased tension, with the EU accusing Mali’s military regime of using them to shore up their own power.

“Multiple obstructions” by the ruling junta meant conditions were no longer in place to operate in Mali, France and its African and European allies said in a statement.

The withdrawal applies to 2,400 French troops in Mali and a smaller European force of several hundred, which was created in 2020 to reduce the burden on French forces.