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Added on the 15/12/2021 11:22:37 - Copyright : France 24 EN
In the border zone between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, French and Burkinabe soldiers march in step. Named Bourgou IV, their mission was the first official joint ground operation between the French army and the so-called G5 Sahel force, which pools troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Their goal: assert control over an area where no troops had set foot for over a year. It is in this "three borders" area that 13 French soldiers lost their lives in a helicopter accident on Monday.
French troops were on Monday handing back a military base in northeastern Mali ahead of a final withdrawal from the Sahel nation, France's army said, after nine years fighting a jihadist insurgency. France offered to continue air support for the UN force from outside Mali. "This support is necessary for MINUSMA and to protect the peacekeepers," French ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said in New York.
Russia was claiming it had started its drawdown of its military forces from the Ukrainian border, but when shelling hit a nursery school near the frontline in the southeastern Luhansk region Thursday, it was all hands on deck. That has been followed by a second day of shelling with both sides accusing the other of provocation and the leaders of the seperatist regions of Luhansk and Donesk ordering the evacuation of civilians.
After French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France and its European partners are to begin a military withdrawal from Mali after more than nine years fighting a jihadist insurgency, FRANCE 24 speaks to Belgium's prime minister. Alexander De Croo calls the French-led pullout "unfortunate" and insists it is "important to not break any ties with Mali. We are very concerned about the political developments, but the moment you break ties, we don't have any influence any more. It's important for the Sahel region to get stabilised."
President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said Niger had agreed to host European forces fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel after France and its allies decided to withdraw from neighbouring Mali. He also said the remaining forces would provide further assistance for countries in the Gulf of Guinea. FRANCE 24's International Affairs Editor Armen Georgian tells us more.
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