French President Emmanuel Macron said today that France will withdraw its troops from Mali, but will maintain a military presence in neighboring West African countries.
"We cannot remain militarily involved" together with Mali's transitional authorities with whom "we do not share strategy and objectives," Macron told news conferences in Paris.
France has about 4.300 troops in the Sahel region, including 2.400 in Mali, as part of Operation Barkan, which spans five countries in the region - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
A UN peacekeeping mission has been in Mali since 2013. At the same time as this mission, France has also been leading a military operation against the fighting groups of extremist organizations that have taken over the areas in the north of the country since 2013.
European leaders said troops from a military task force called Takuba would withdraw from Mali.
Tensions have risen between Mali, its African neighbors and the European Union, especially after the West African country's transitional government allowed the deployment of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group on its territory.
The European countries acting as part of the Takuba forces stated in a joint statement that the "political, operational and legal conditions to effectively continue military engagement in the fight against terrorism in Mali" have not been met.
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