how the French force Barkhane withdraws from the north of the country

The French military disengagement in North Mali has started. Emmanuel Macron announced in June 2021 the reduction in the strength of Operation Barkhane, from 5,100 soldiers to less than 3,000, and the closure of three of the eight French bases. Among these three bases, there is that of Tessalit. It is the most isolated outpost of the French army in the Sahel, 50 km from the Algerian border.

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This camp accommodated 200 soldiers on average, up to 500 sometimes, but there have been only 80 since October 12, the day the convoy left – six days on the road to Gao – which has moved most of the base’s facilities. It took an hour for the 110 trucks and armored vehicles to cross the last chicane which marks the exit of the camp.

“We see all the comforts leaving”, explains Florent, the boss of the camp. This captain strides through what now looks like the ghost town of a forgotten Wild West. “We have this somewhat symbolic side of being the last French in Tessalit”, indicates the captain. Almost everything left the camp in 140 containers of 100 tons, to which are added one of the two mortars as well as means of detection and defense. On the walls of decrepit buildings, graffiti left must be cleaned up. We must burn posters. There are eight years of French military traces to be erased.

Eighty soldiers will stay in Tessalit for another month, under threat from a distant enemy. On July 15, between 7.22 a.m. and 7.35 a.m., 14 rockets and shells hit the camp and its surroundings. The military call it an indirect attack and there are also artisanal mines (IEDs, according to the commonly used acronym). A modus operandi coming from an adversary who flees the frontal combat. Yet, explains the captain, “there is a form of respect for the man who is able to move, to live in an environment as inhospitable as Adrar, the mountain of Ifoghas. So we will say that there is a respect for alpine hunters. ”

“We never had enemies in front of us. We had enemies who were far away, who were watching us. Suddenly, we did not have a stupid hatred of the enemy since we could not see him at the end of our guns. “

Florent, camp captain

to franceinfo

For the 80 soldiers of Tessalit, there is, strangely enough, a sense of pride in being the last. “We say to ourselves that we are alone in the world and that we can only count on us, says Sergeant Thibault. We are far from the means, far from the leaders, and therefore we are left to ourselves. But that’s where we reveal ourselves. And frankly, it’s beautiful to see that. “” There is truly pride in being those who are able to be a bit far from the central comfort of Gao, describes Florent, the captain of the Tessalit camp. When I say that we will descend and that we will roll the French flag from Tessalit for the last time, necessarily, that speaks to the soldiers. It gives them the feeling of having done something exceptional, in the semantic sense of the term exceptional. “

“I am the chief doctor”, Julien introduces himself. The “doc” likes the geography of Tessalit. He summons up its history, dating back to the French camel officers of the last century. Every day at 3 p.m., he climbs on a roof to admire the light. The particular blue of the sky at this hour “is very magical, if only with the mountains that we see at the exit of the camp in this Tuareg zone”, describes Julien. On several occasions in the camp, soldiers introduced themselves as follows: “I am the last oil chief of Tessalit”, “I am the last infantry section chief in Tessalit”, and it was always with my head held high.

When Barkhane’s last soldiers have left the camp, the French flag will go down, and the Malian one will go up. The Famas, the Malian armed forces, will settle in place of Barkhane. And every week, Captain Florent receives his Malian counterpart, Captain Sidibé. Together, they stall the transition. Captain Sidibé asks Florent for more camp defense exercises. Recapturing Tessalit is a symbol, and he wants to hold out in the event of an attack. Tessalit seems as far from Paris as from Bamako. The Malian government’s empty phrases on “abandonment in full flight” that represents the French disengagement pass well above the two officers. The political tensions between the two capitals do not go down to the two captains. They have other things to do, their concern is of a military nature.