Bernd
02/20/2022 (Sun) 08:31:20
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46503
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France ends Operation Barkhane in Mali and pulls out the troops involved along with the EU Takuba Task Force (about 2400 + 600 men all in all). Not sure about the latter one but the French gets redeployed elsewhere in the Sahel, chiefly towards the Gulf of Guinea and in Niger where "terrorism" supposedly gained momentum - I think these involvements are also part of Barkhane, so the operation as a whole doesn't end. MINUSMA will fill some gaps (maybe they get reinforced with French troops...).
The withdrawal will be done gradually in the next half year or so.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/16/macron-set-to-announce-french-withdrawal-from-mali
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/17/france-allies-announce-military-withdrawal-from-mali
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/18/after-mali-exit-niger-accepts-foreign-forces-to-secure-border
>>46390
It's reasonable to assume that Turkish agencies/forces were involved in the action. Maybe they just came across the intel, or maybe provided a whole support structure for the operation. I doubt they were left out of the loop anyway.