600 more French people in the Sahel, to allow the launch of the Takuba task force
(B2) The French Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, announced this Sunday (February 2) the arrival of 600 men as reinforcements in Operation Barkhane
Barkhane's workforce will eventually be increased " to approximately 5100 servicemen ". In Pau, the President had announced a first reinforcement of 220 men. Finally after arbitration, this supplement will be 600 men.
Reinforcement needed to compensate for the failure of Europeans
400 men were added, mostly from the special forces of the COS (special operations command), dedicated to the Takuba task force. It is " a substantial effort for the French armies says the minister. A necessary effort to help 'solidify' the Malian or Nigerien forces which have suffered significant losses in recent weeks. The promised Europeans will only arrive in the second half of the year, or even at the end of the year. Alongside the Estonians, we will then find Czechs - the Czech government has just decided to send 60 men, deployed from August-September - as well as Swedes and Norwegians, according to our information, who must formalize their participation (see : Four Europeans present in the Takuba task force, in the three-border area. HQ, location, number, logistics…).
In the area of the three borders
Most of the reinforcements will be deployed in the so-called 'three borders' area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Another part of these reinforcements will be engaged directly within the G5 Sahel forces to accompany them in combat. Chad, for its part, should soon deploy an additional battalion within the G5 Sahel joint force in the tri-border region. A welcome reinforcement, the Chadians being reputed to be stronger than the Nigerien, Malian or Burkinabe forces. Objective : " increase the pressure against the EIGS (Islamic State in the Greater Sahara) [...]. We will leave no space for those who want to destabilize the Sahel says the minister.
Another challenge: reinvigorating the EUTM mission
Another illustration of the paradigm shift in the Sahel, the Minister recalls her support for " the extension of the mandate of the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) to enable it to cooperate with the armed forces of other G5 countries and thus provide a greater part of their training ". In other words, it is a question of allowing the EUTM mission to go and follow the training carried out in different camps (permanent training) as well as to train the forces of Burkina Faso or Niger. Here too the French have a lot to do to convince their European partners to be a little more enterprising. The Germans, in particular, are not very warm (read: The Sahel, an open wound between French and Germans. The summit of Pau across the Berlin Gorge).
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
