France Joins a Broader Alliance to Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel

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For the longest time, the Sahel region, which is in Western and Central North Africa, has been prone to food insecurity, political instability, and terrorism attacks. The latter has resulted in a devastating impact on the residents living in the region. The situation, more so in the three border areas shared by Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali, is devastating as terrorists are forcing people to flee the region.

France Joins a Larger International Force

During a recent media briefing, President Emmanuel Macron announced the end of France’s long-running counter-terrorism mission in Africa’s Sahel area. He stated that the reunion was part of a proposal to replace Operation Barkhane with a larger international force.

According to Mr. Macron, Operation Barkhane, the French military effort, will be merged into an international alliance that will include France’s Western and regional partners. Mr. Macron did not indicate whether any of the 5,000 French troops stationed in the region, which is a semiarid strip extending along the southern edge of the Sahara, would be withdrawn.

“We will begin a dramatic restructuring of our military presence in the Sahel,” stated Mr. Macron.

Mr. Macron has spearheaded proposals for a “European army” to help with security responsibilities as the United States reduces troop deployments in Africa. Drone surveillance, troop transport, and other intelligence-gathering efforts have all been given by the US military to the French operation. Four US soldiers stationed in Niger were killed by Islamist insurgents in 2017.

For years, France has pressed its friends to share more of the burden of safeguarding Mali and other Sahel countries that have become crossroads for human trafficking and terrorism. Since France’s troops were deployed in the Sahel in 2013 to defend Mali’s government in Bamako from terrorists who had overrun the country’s north, at least 50 French soldiers have perished.

Since then, France has developed a massive counter-terrorism operation, fighting Islamic State, al Qaeda, and other militant organizations that roam the Sahel region’s isolated villages, posing a threat to government forces in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, among other countries.

Why Did France Withdraw its Forces?

The battle in the Sahel has not been a walk in the park, for not only has it rendered the region unstable, but it has also resulted in the loss of countless lives. So much blood has been shed in the brutal jihadist attacks. According to reports, violent extremists have made vulnerable villagers their targets, as they continue to kill and rape many in an unprecedented series of attacks.

The escalating attacks across the region attracted international concern as they clearly communicated a violation of humanitarian law. The French Operation, nicknamed Barkhane, was among the counterterrorism operations in the Sahel. However, the rate at which terrorist groups in the region are growing has become alarming.

The militia would occasionally launch impromptu attacks. In one of the attacks, many French forces succumbed. For that reason, it was alleged that the French President might be facing pressure from home to end the French troops’ deployment.

Also, the lack of cooperation with inhabitants in the Sahel also prompted the need for a larger alliance to help in counterterrorism operations. Even more so because some of the villagers were collaborating with Islamist insurgents.