“Additional resources will be presented to the President of the Republic in the coming days” for operations in the Sahel. The chief of staff of the French armies, François Lecointre, said Wednesday January 22 in the press that it is a question of rendering ” permanent action in the field, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week “, in the region of the three borders (Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso) where the “Barkhane” force now fully concentrates its resources.
From the Ivory Coast, 220 legionaries on short-term missions have already increased their numbers. Others will follow if Emmanuel Macron validates the plan on January 29 in defense counsel. Support means are also provided “Additional logistics and intelligence” necessary for this tactical effort. The reinforcements “Make us hope that we will get a switch”said the general.
The repositioning had been validated by the Elysee Palace before the G5 Sahel summit in Pau, which formalized it on January 13. The Minister of the Armies Florence Parly completed on Tuesday January 21 a three-day tour with ‘Partners’ Africans to decline its implementation. The effort targets the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) organization, which has been designated as the main enemy.
Europeans must “absolutely do more”
Elements of the G5 joint force will also be concentrated in the three border area. They had hitherto covered a strip of 50 kilometers on either side of the limits of the Sahelian states, from Mauritania to Chad. General Lecointre confirms the arrival of a Chadian battalion. But he calls on Europeans to urgently equip these African units, including the two Malian battalions.
The “Takuba” force, complementary European and French special units, will join for “Accompany the Malians in combat”. Its first military capacity will be declared “From summer”, for “Be fully operational from the fall”. Paris hopes for 500 soldiers but, notes the French chief: “Where I am waiting for Europe, I find it a little long to get under way. It has now been seven months since I wrote, with the general commanding the European mission in Mali and the American chief of Africom, asking the EU to do a more complete job of accompanying the armies, and not just their training. We are wasting a lot of time. “
Europeans must “Absolutely do more”launched Joseph Borrell, the EU’s high representative, on 20 January, recalling that in 2019 the fragile countries of the Sahel had lost 1,500 soldiers and deplored 4,000 civilian deaths in jihadist attacks. The most significant figure since 2012.
“An electric shock”
General Lecointre admits that he “May be failures”, ” errors “. “We are constantly working on feedback to see the mistakes we are making. But then there is the fortune of war. I do not pretend that the French armies are infallible “, says he. According to him, this “Very complex civil war” Sahelian “Is a long commitment”. And repeat: “It can only be won if the political powers of these countries use the tactical gains we have made to redeploy the state. “
With the death of thirteen French soldiers in November 2019 and the massacres against local forces, François Lecointre wants to believe that happened “An electroshock” and an “Very brutal awareness”, among Africans as well as Europeans. In other words : “Our idea is also to put the monkey on the shoulder of those who have a greater share of responsibility than us in the solution of this crisis. “
Action will have to be taken against those questioned about the French presence: the chief of staff evokes a “War of perception”. But he also denounces a ” “french bashing“ a bit easy “, powered “Including by the exaggeratedly critical look” of the French press on the results of “Barkhane”. “The fact that things have not degenerated more is already in itself a success”, he assures.
“Prevent the Americans from going”
The global strategy will not change, shared with the United States: it consists in partitioning the theaters of Islamist terrorism – Middle East, East, Central, West Africa, Libya. “Today Daesh is reorganizing itself as a multinational with extremely effective propaganda devices, and is claiming the actions of terrorist groups which have set up subsidiaries”, says he. The staff assures that “Their modes of action in rezzou are not new”.
But General Lecointre says to himself “Struck by the transmission of know-how”. Improvised explosive devices, widespread in Afghanistan from 2010, which appeared in the Sahel in 2012, are becoming more sophisticated. Same vigilance before “The use of drones, fairly rustic but very effective”, observed in the Levant. “I fear the transmission of this know-how at all levels in Africa. “
Within two months, the United States will reconfigure its military presence in Africa, a decisive issue. The American drones are thus the only ones to have an electromagnetic listening capacity – France will not have it before the end of 2020. In addition, it will be necessary to ask more Europeans on strategic transport and in-flight refueling. In the latter area, according to information from World, French concerns were rekindled by a punctual withdrawal of American resources, at the end of the year.
“I am trying to prevent the Americans from going away”, declares the French general. His American counterparts reassured him, explaining that their African engagement is “Cost effective” (profitable). But the White House must be convinced, recently admitted the Elysee.
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