France To Pull Out More Than 2,000 Troops From Africa's Sahel Region

France will withdraw more than 2,000 troops from an anti-extremism force in Africa’s Sahel region by early next year and pivot its military presence to specialized regional forces instead, President Emmanuel Macron said, Angela Charlton and Carley Petesch reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Macron announced last month a future reduction of France’s military presence, arguing that it’s no longer adapted to the needs in the area. The French Barkhane force, operating in Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania, had also met opposition from some Africans.

After discussions Friday with leaders of the African countries involved, Macron announced that France would reduce its force to 2,500 to 3,000 troops over the long term. The country currently has 5,000 troops in the region.

The French leader insisted that his country is not abandoning African partners, and would keep helping them fight groups linked to Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

“France doesn’t have the vocation or the will to stay eternally in the Sahel,” Macron said.

“We are there because were asked to be.”

French troops have been present in Mali since 2013 when they intervened to force Islamic extremist rebels from power in towns across the country’s north. Operation Serval was later replaced by Barkhane and was expanded to include other countries in an effort to help stabilize the broader Sahel region.

Islamic militants, though, have continued to launch devastating attacks against the militaries fighting them as well as increasingly against civilians.

Hundreds have died since January in a series of massacres targeting villages on the border of Niger and Mali.

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