Sahel region

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France will close all military bases in the Sahel region in 2022 as part of its reconfiguration of the country's military involvement in Africa. Macron announced the military shutdown, including the reduction of troops and the closure of bases during a press conference with Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum at the end of the G5 Sahel summit in Paris. The transition is necessary at the end of France's operation Barkhane in the Sahel, which Macron announced last month.…

The Malian leader of a coup last August, Colonel Assimi Goita, who has overthrown two presidents in the past nine months, swore in as interim president of the chronically unstable Sahel state on Monday after the country's second nine-month coup. The ceremony in the capital Bamako came after Goita fired the civilian president and prime minister of a transitional government on May 24 to international condemnation. "I swear before God and the Malian people to preserve the Republican regime ... to preserve…

France plans to suspend joint military operations with the Malian forces, citing the country's second nine-month coup that led to the resignation of civilian interim presidents and prime ministers following the arrest, as well as the recent West African state suspension from the African Union (AU) and the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS). , Thursday's decision came after Mali's military strongman Assimi Goita, who led last year's coup, fired President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and…