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1 minute
As announced by Emmanuel Macron, the troops of the French army will gradually leave Niger. A retirement which comes after a significant presence and multiple operations in recent years.
French soldiers in operations on the ground or in the air. These are the soldiers of Operation Barkhane, filmed a few years before their departure from Mali, at the time when French forces were very present in the Sahel. In 2014, 3,000 soldiers were in Mali, Mauritania and Niger, for Operation Barkhane. 1,600 were present in the Central African Republic for Operation Sangaris. 400 in Burkina Faso for Operation Saber and 950 in Chad for Operation Épervier.
French diplomats forced to flee
Today, French soldiers have left almost all of these countries, and will leave Niger before the end of the year. Beyond the military presence, France’s diplomatic presence has been called into question in several of these countries, such as in Burkina Faso in 2022. The ambassadors in Mali and Niger were forced to return to France.