Defence
A monument in memory of soldiers who died on foreign missions in Chad
What was operation Barkhane?
There are questions that are difficult to answer and one of such questions was when a teenager asked me what was operation barkhane? Because the topic with the student was on post-colonial relations,the themes of my answers were on the following issues:Francophone West Africa was decolonised on the decision of prime minister,Michel Debré,who took the initiative to discuss the problems of countries retained in the Franco-African community with General de Gaulle.Who asked his prime minister to think of a way to resolve the decolonisation of the countries within the Franco-African community in 1958.
Background of the military assistance
The solution retained by the prime minister was to propose to members of the Franco-African community,economic,cultural and military agreements in exchange for independence in 1960.In 1975 General Malloum of Chad asked France to withdraw French troops from Chad.Under president Giscard d'Estaing and in the face of Libyan invasion,military assistance was requested and accepted.But president Giscard d'Estaing was stunned when the military hierarchy managing the Chadian operation asked him for an urgent meeting in 1978 as he stated in Le pouvoir et la vie.
How Operation Manta was launched in 1983
At that meeting between president Giscard d'Estaing,General Mery,the minister of defence and General Vanbremeersch.The military hierarchy tendered a proposal for the withdrawal of troops from Chad due to their incapacity to defend the city of N'djamena against Libyan forces.A proposal that president d'Estaing refused in exchange for an increase in the supply of military equipment to Chad.When president d'Estaing was defeated in the election of 1981.In his handing over conversation with president Mitterrand in May 1981,he revealed his Libyan strategy that was not inspiring to the new president.In June 1982,Hissene Habré,who was supported by the United States entered N'djamena and deposed Goukouni Wadai,who was supported by Libya.
From operation Manta to operation Barkhane
On the 7th of August 1983 in a meeting at the Latché vacation home of president Mitterrand,General Vernon Walters,the diplomatic envoy of president Reagan, explained the desire of the US government to support the Chadian leader and on August 9, 1983 the operation code named Manta to send troops to Chad was launched by the socialist administration.In the months that followed,diplomatic efforts replaced war campaigns and Manta was replaced with Epervier and operation Epervier was transformed into Serval and operation Serval became Barkhane in 2014.
A Paris monument in memory of soldiers who died on foreign miision and a national day air demonstration
The day-to-day reality of operation Barkhane
The geographical scope of operation Barkhane covers Mauritania,Burkina Faso,Niger,Mali and Chad and each area was further subdivided into three operational zones with troops participation from other countries.The mission of Barkhane was to protect the airspace,to support local forces,to secure operational bases, to do patrols,to monitor security threats and to offer community medical services. A configuration that changed in 2013, when Mali requested military assistance from the government of François Hollande. An initiative that enabled the Malian government to roll-back the advance of rebel forces and opened three challenges for them as operation Barkhane became operation Takuba in 2020.
The military pull-out from Mali
Two military coups in 2020 and 2021 were the first challenges as the new military rulers focused on the exploration of Russian military assistance and suspicion reached its climax when an agreement was signed between the government of Mali and a Russian security firm.The second challenge was the reluctance of Malian military rulers to set an agenda for a return to civil rule. A reluctance that had for consequence the expulsion of the French ambassador to Mali,backed with an economic sanction from ECOWAS against the country.
On February 17 2022 in a press conference organised at the Elysée in the presence of the presidents of Senegal and Ghana, France insisted on the contradiction of remaining in a country where the rulers have an agenda that is hidden to all and the withdrawal of French troops from the territory of Mali before the end of August 2022.A policy declaration that was responsible for the closure of these military bases: Tessalit,Kidal,Timbuktu and the tasks of redeploying combat aircrafts, helicopters, armoured vehicles and the lorries of the building construction section of the armed forces...
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