France to scale down W Africa military operations - BBC News

France is to scale down counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel region of West Africa after eight years, President Emmanuel Macron has said.

The existing 5,100-strong task force will be incorporated into a broader international mission, he announced.

French forces have been operating in Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso to fight militants.

Last week, France paused operations in Mali following a military coup.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group have strengthened their grip on the region, which has become a front line in the war against Islamist extremism.

It is also a major transit route for illegal drugs, weapons and jihadists.

"We will keep a counter-terrorism pillar with special forces with several hundred forces... and there will be a second pillar that will be co-operation, and which we will reinforce," Mr Macron said during a press conference on Thursday.

The president said the drawdown of troops would take place in an "organised way".

"France has been involved for a little over eight years in the Sahel," Mr Macron said. "Many of our soldiers have fallen. I think of their families. We owe them consistency, clarity. We're going to learn from what worked and also learn from what didn't."...BBC

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• France halts joint army operations with Malian forces over coup | Al Jazeera

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• French airstrike in Mali killed 19 civilians, UN investigators find

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• Attaque dans le nord de la Côte-d'Ivoire : au moins un soldat tué à la frontière du Burkina Faso

• UN ‘outraged’ as death toll in Burkina Faso attack rises to 132 | Al Jazeera

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 Le président français Emmanuel Macron a annoncé jeudi une "transformation profonde" de la présence militaire française au Sahel, et la mise en place d'une alliance internationale antijihadiste dans la région.