French troops gained an enthusiastic welcome once they entered Mali greater than 9 years in the past to assist it struggle a jihadist-fuelled insurgency.
On Monday, France pulled overseas within the face of deep hostility after falling out with colonels who seized energy almost two years in the past.
Right here’s a glance again at what occurred:
– 2012: Jihadists take north –
Tuareg and rebels allied to Al-Qaeda within the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) seize the capitals of the three northern areas of the nation — Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu.
The Islamists shortly sideline the Tuareg, perform amputations and stonings and destroy mausoleums within the fabled desert metropolis of Timbuktu.
– 2013: France intervenes –
In January 2013 Mali appeals to France, the previous colonial energy, because the jihadists head south, threatening the capital Bamako.
Paris sends a 1,700-strong power, Operation Serval, which routs the rebels.
In April 2013, a UN power, MINUSMA (the United Nations Multidimensional Built-in Stabilization Mission in Mali), is launched.
It turns into one of many UN’s largest peacekeeping operations, with greater than 17,000 troops, police, civilians and volunteers deployed at the moment.
– 2014: Operation Barkhane –
On August 1, France replaces Operation Serval with a wider mission within the Sahel referred to as Operation Barkhane, whose identify means “barchan”, or transferring sand dune.
Barkhane initially deploys 3,000 troops, rising to five,100 troops at its peak. The power operates in cooperation with 5 allied international locations — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
– 2015: Rising assaults –
In Could and June 2015 the Malian authorities and former Tuareg rebels signal a peace settlement however implementation lags.
Twenty-five folks — together with 16 foreigners — are killed in two assaults on a resort and a restaurant in Bamako in March and November by jihadists from a bunch led by one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Jihadist assaults additionally unfold to the centre of Mali, an ethnic powder keg, and attain throughout the border into Niger and Burkina Faso
– 2017: G5 Sahel –
In January 2017, a suicide bombing by the identical outfit on a camp in Gao grouping former rebels and pro-government militia leaves 77 useless and 120 injured.
In July, the leaders of 5 Sahel international locations comply with create an anti-terror process power referred to as the G5 Sahel backed by France.
– 2020-2021: Coups –
As assaults on the armed forces and civilians in central Mali mount, anger towards President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita rises, culminating in a navy coup August 2020.
The following junta creates an interim authorities.
However when its civilian leaders take away troopers from some key posts, strongman Colonel Assimi Goita levels a de-facto second coup in Could 2021.
Relations with Paris deteriorate quickly when Goita’s junta refuses to carry promised elections on schedule.
In June 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron broadcasts that Barkhane numbers will likely be progressively scaled again to between 2,500 and three,000 troops.
– 2022: withdrawal –
Russian paramilitaries from the controversial Wagner group start deploying in Mali on the finish of 2021 to shore up its navy leaders.
On January 9, 2022, West African bloc ECOWAS imposes an embargo on Mali over the cancelled elections, demanding a return to civilian rule.
Tensions mount and Mali expels the French ambassador on January 31.
On February 17, France broadcasts its intention to withdraw from Mali, a transfer that may go in parallel with a smaller French-led EU power referred to as Takuba. Macron units a deadline of 4 to 6 months.
The following day Bamako calls on Paris to withdraw its troopers “directly”, a request rejected by the French chief.
In early Could, the junta breaks its defence agreements with Paris and, weeks later, broadcasts it’s leaving the G5 Sahel.
In late June the UN extends MINUSMA’s mandate by a 12 months, however with out French air help, which is rejected by the junta.
On July 1 Paris broadcasts the tip of Takuba, and on Monday Barkhane formally involves an in depth.
Now out of Mali, France has halved its presence within the Sahel, with simply 2,500 navy now remaining within the area.
