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French soldiers from Operation Barkhane completed their withdrawal from the Tessalit base in northern Mali on Monday, November 15. If their departure was greeted by the inhabitants of this part of the country, it is feared by those who live under the direct threat of the jihadists, as in Timbuktu.
The only secure way to get to Timbuktu (Mali) are small planes chartered by the United Nations to transport humanitarian workers. The road to the city is now too dangerous. The airport is the first witness to the conflict. The base of the French army sfind a few meters from the airstrip, behind barbed wire. Inside the terminal, nothing remains. Three years ago, about fifteen jihadists with car bombs entered the heart of the enclosure. The attack was aimed at the French army.
The soldiers are not here for long: Emmanuel Macron announced the closure of the Timbuktu base by 2022. Aboubacrine Hamaleck, a former tour guide, does not understand the decision. “Really, this is not the time for the French army to leave Timbuktu. They have to wait a bit. People are scared, they don’t know how it will be afterwards “, he confides. Before the arrival of the French in 2013, Timbuktu was in the hands of jihadists, who reigned supreme.
The Islamists no longer control the city, but security has not returned. The inhabitants hope not to be abandoned following the departure of French troops. If in Bamako, Malians demonstrate for the withdrawal, it is the opposite in Timbuktu, where the scenario of Afghanistan is in everyone’s mind. Those responsible for preserving the city’s heritage are among the most worried.
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