In Mali itself, the newspaper Malikilé wonders whether it is a “confession of failure in France’s military strategy in the Sahel”, a “bloodbath” or a “great irritation. The development of the situation in Mali”. In all his questions, Malikilé also states that “the future candidate Emmanuel Macron saves himself a sword of Damocles over his head with possible reports of French soldiers being killed somewhere in the vast Sahelian desert”.
“Macron buries Barkhane, launches, in Dakar, the daily EnQuête, Alea jacta est!” Barkhane will no longer be like that in the coming days and weeks ”. In this Senegalese newspaper, Thierno Souleymane Diop Niang, a researcher in international relations, believes that the French authorities “must know that Mali has the right to gather all the main characters for dialogue in order to find a solution to the crisis”.
For the newspaper 24 Heures, “the real reasons behind this exit issue. This is especially so since the reaction of the Élysée to an almost similar political situation in Chad has been much more conciliatory and has even drawn sharp criticism as regards the double standards of French decisions’.
“Barkhane unpacks!” Wakat Sera,while waiting for a first-class funeral or an intimate family funeral, it all depends on who signed the death certificate. According to this newspaper in Ouagalan “after a slow anxiety”, the Barkhane Force “just breathed its last”.
This announcement “sounds like a sanction against the soldier who has just confiscated power in Mali, formulates this second Burkinabè newspaper which is The country. It is also, one might say, a real dude for ECOWAS who has decided to iron Colonel Goita and company in the direction of the hair (…) Assimi Goita and his brothers-in-arms must now tie the strings properly. their shoes ”.
In France, too, newspapers specializing in African news are asking many questions this morning about the change in the format of the French army.
For example: “Is it time for French troops to withdraw from the Sahel?” AskingPoint Africaand stressed that Barkhane is “the longest and most expensive French operation since World War II”. As the newspaper notes, “When the withdrawal plan was announced, many questions were asked. Will soldiers be sent back? How? Will any bases be closed? How will the partners react? ”
Finally, note this very interesting remark, which aims to demonstrate that a reduction in the number of troops does not mean a reduction in the number of combatants by the same% “kind of cheeky law of military arithmetic”. Daily opinion that explains it. “The military effect of a reduction in staff is not proportional to its share: 10% fewer men are much more than 10% less on the ground, warns this daily (…). Modern army, support and support functions – logistics, intelligence “, medical, base protection, maintenance, etc. – mobilize large and difficult to reduce personnel. The easiest to reduce is the number of personnel leaving the bases to have a military effect on the enemy”.
Therefore, L’Opinions emphasizes that the decline in “Barkhane’s” workforce must be dealt with “in pace” with France’s European allies. For Europeans, “coming to the aid of the French is one thing, replacing them while returning their soldiers is another, completely different.” Shadow!
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