Why has France ended its military operations in Sahel
- November 14, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Why has France ended its military operations in Sahel
Subject :IR
Context:
- On November 9, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the end of the decade long Operation Barkhane in Africa q3
What is Operation Barkhane:
- Operation Barkhane was an anti-insurgent operation that started on 1 August 2014 and was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa’s Sahel region.
- The operation was led in cooperation with five countries, all of which are former French colonies that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali Mauritania and Niger.
- The countries are collectively referred to as the “G5 Sahel”.
- The operation was named after a crescent-shaped dune type that is common in the Sahara desert.
- The French military initially intervened in Mali in early 2013 as part of Operation Serval, which successfully regained the northern half of the country from Islamist groups.
- However, in 2014, the mission was scaled up, renamed Operation Barkhane and was aimed at counterterrorism.
- The objective was to assist local armed forces to prevent the resurgence of non-state armed groups across the Sahel region.
What is G5 Sahel:
- It Is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development policies and security matters in west Africa.
- It was formed on 16 February 2014 in Nouakchott, Mauritania,at a summit of five Sahel countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
- It adopted a convention of establishment on 19 December 2014, and is permanently seated in Mauritania.
- The coordination is organised on different levels. The military aspect is coordinated by the respective countries’ Chiefs of Staff.
- The purpose of G5 Sahel is to strengthen the bond between economic development and security, and together battle the threat of jihadist organizations operating in the region like AQIM, MUJWA, Al-Mourabitoun, Boko Haram
What is Sahel Region:
- The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south.
- Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.
- The name is derived from the Arabic term for “coast, shore”; this is explained as being used in a figurative sense in reference to the southern edge of the vast Sahara.
- The Sahel part includes from west to east parts of northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, northern Burkina Faso, the extreme south of Algeria, Niger, the extreme north of Nigeria, the extreme north of Cameroon and the Central African Republic, central Chad, central and southern Sudan, the extreme north of South Sudan, Eritrea and the extreme north of Ethiopia.