France will soon begin reshaping its military presence in the Sahel region of West Africa and will ultimately halve it, President Emmanuel Macron has said, Al Jazeera reports.
Macron announced last month that he would start removing much of the 5,100-member Barkhane force in the Sahel after eight years of helping local forces stave off the threat from armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
“We will remain committed. But to remain committed is also to adapt,” Macron told a news conference on Friday after a virtual summit with leaders of Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania that make up the G5 Sahel region.
Macron announced that France would reduce its force to 2,500 to 3,000 troops over the long term.
The French leader insisted that his country is not abandoning African partners, and would keep helping them fight groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL.
“France doesn’t have the vocation or the will to stay eternally in the Sahel,” Macron said. “We are there because we were asked to be.”
French troops have been present in Mali since 2013, when they intervened to force armed rebels from power in towns across the country’s north.
