Read more about the article Lessons of Operation Barkhane for Future European Engagement in the Sahel
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Lessons of Operation Barkhane for Future European Engagement in the Sahel

On August 15, 2022, the last French soldiers involved in Operation Barkhane left Malian territory. The operation began nearly a decade earlier and had the primary objective of fighting against terrorist groups in the region (Burgess, 2018, p. 5). The situation in Mali, however, appears worse now than before. Jihadist violence continues to escalate, anti-Western sentiment runs rampant, and Russian Wagner mercenaries have established a firm footing in the country.

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30 January 2023
Read more about the article The End of the Operation Barkhane, New Perspectives on the Territory
French soldiers during the Operation Barkhane (Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opération_Barkhane.jpg)
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The End of the Operation Barkhane, New Perspectives on the Territory

On 10 June, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the withdrawal of the French forces from the Sahel region. Operation Barkhane started back in August 2014 after Operation Serval, which was deployed to support the Malian government in 2013. Operation Barkhane was based on the partnership between France and the countries of the Sahel G5, namely Burkina-Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, to address the rising presence of Islamist terrorism in the territory. The main strategy was to give the possibility and the means to the Sahel G5 countries to develop both national and regional strategies to fight terrorism autonomously (Ministère des Armées, 2019). The French approach was based not only on security in a strict way but also on politics and development in a broader sense.

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29 June 2021