Bamako, Mali: Mali’s leader Junta is calling for immediate departure of French and European forces.
This comes a day after France announced a plan to withdraw its troops from Mali.
On Friday, in a national televised address by Malian government spokesperson, Col. Abdoulaye Maiga said the Mali invites the French government to withdraw its armed forces with immediate effect.
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron made the withdrawal announcement.
The withdrawal plan would take place over a six-month period.
On Friday, in a news conference in Brussels, President Macron said the withdrawal of French armed forces “will be implemented in an orderly manner” in order to ensure the security of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the country and the security of French soldiers.
France has about 2,400 troops in Mali, as part of its 4,300 troops in West Africa aimed at stabilizing the Sahel region against the rising threat of Islamic extremists.
France ultimately aims to reduce the number of its troops in the Sahel to about 2,500 or 3,000, according to the French Armed Forces.
France’s deployment of troops to Mali in 2013 initially met with success, succeeding in dislodging jihadi rebels from three centers in northern Mali.
But the extremists simply relocated into the vast desert areas where their attacks have increased in recent years.
Since an August 2020 coup, Mali has been led by Col. Assimi Goita. Goita carried out a second coup by dismissing the civilian leaders in Mali’s transitional government and putting himself in charge last year.
Many Malians have since staged large demonstrations against the presence of troops from France, the former colonial power.
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