Operation Barkhane

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Operation Barkhane
The Sahel
The Sahel
date August 1, 2014 until ongoing
place Sahel : Mauritania , Mali , Burkina Faso , Niger and Chad
output open
Parties to the conflict

FranceFrance France Mali Niger Burkina Faso Mauritania Chad Supported by: Germany United Kingdom Canada
MaliMali 
NigerNiger 
Burkina FasoBurkina Faso 
MauritaniaMauritania 
ChadChad 

GermanyGermany 
United KingdomUnited Kingdom 
CanadaCanada 

Jamāʿat Nusrat al-Islām wa-l-Muslimīn (2017-)
Al-Mourabitoun (2014-17)
AQIM (2014-17)
Ansar Dine (2014-17)
Boko Haram

Commander

FranceFrance Emmanuel Macron Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta Mahamadou Issoufou Michel Kafando Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Idriss Déby
MaliMali
NigerNiger
Burkina FasoBurkina Faso
MauritaniaMauritania
ChadChad

Djamel Okacha
Iyad ag Ghali
Mokhtar Belmokhtar

Troop strength
3,500 French soldiers 3,000 fighters (all groups)
losses

FranceFrance France 8 dead

65 dead, 60 prisoners

Opération Barkhane is a French- led military operation to eradicate transnational Islamist terrorism that has been taking place in the Sahel region of Africa since August 1, 2014 . The operation has a manpower of 4,500 soldiers (as of 2020). With a view to the Sahel states, President Macron found the area of ​​operation includes the former French colonies of Burkina Faso , Chad , Mali , Mauritania and Niger . These countries form the " G5 Sahel ". The operation is after the barchan named (Barchan), in the desert Sahara is to be found. The operation is partly controversial in the participating states.

background

Barkhane is the successor to the Opération Serval , the French military intervention in Mali, and the Opération Épervier , the mission in Chad.

target

The official coat of arms of Operation Barkhane
Destroyed VBCI in Goa

Opération Barkhane is said to be "the French cornerstone of the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region." According to France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian , the operation is intended to prevent the supraregional transit routes in the Sahel region from becoming a haven for global jihadism, where terrorists are unhindered operate between Libya and the Atlantic Ocean. The activities of the military are therefore directed against Islamist extremists in Mali, Chad and Niger, and take place across borders.

Involved armed forces

France

French soldiers talking to locals in southern Mali

France provides a 3,000-strong counter-insurgency force. 1,000 of them are deployed in Mali. A further 1,200 soldiers operate in the Lake Chad region and around 800 soldiers are distributed across locations in Niger, the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. In addition to conventional armed forces of the army and the air force, France also uses special forces.

The Barkhane Opération is supplemented in particular by the UN mission MINUSMA and the Joint Force of the G5 Sahel .

course

The operation began on August 1, 2014. French forces had their first casualty at the beginning of November 2014. On April 12, 2016, three French soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a mine north of the town of Tessalit.

On March 15, 2017, French troops captured eight jihadists in the desert north of Timbuktu. On April 5, 2017, a French soldier was killed in a gun battle near Hombari in Mali after a vehicle belonging to his unit was attacked by an IED. At the end of April 2017, French units carried out an operation in the border area between Mali and Burkina Faso, as a result of which 20 insurgents were killed.

Following the amalgamation of various extremist groups to form the Jamāʿat Nusrat al-Islām wa-l-Muslims , this now represents a major threat and, consequently, a major objective of the operation.

On June 5, 2020, France's Defense Minister Florence Parly announced that on June 3, anti-terrorism forces of the French army had killed the leader of al-Qaeda in the Maghreb , Abdelmalek Droukdel, and some of his closest allies in northern Mali with the support of local partners .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. gov.uk (PDF).
  2. ^ Defense Secretary secures progress on Brimstone sales as unmanned aircraft project moves forward. gov.uk, accessed April 29, 2017 .
  3. ^ Operation FREQUENCE . National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  4. The CAF conduct airlift operations in support of French operations in West Africa and the Sahel region , Government of Canada. November 11, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2017. 
  5. a b c d François Hollande's African adventures: The French are reorganizing security in an increasingly troubled region . In: Economist .
  6. ^ Jihadist threat not as big as you think . CNN . September 14, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  7. ^ One more French soldier killed in Mali . In: Xinhua News Agency , July 15, 2014. 
  8. ^ French soldier killed in Mali blast claimed by Islamists . November 5, 2016. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved on April 29, 2017. 
  9. ^ A b French Military Says 24 Jihadists Killed in Mali . In: ABC News . Retrieved November 9, 2014. 
  10. ^ A b c France sets up anti-Islamist force in Africa's Sahel , bbc.co.uk.
  11. ^ A b Military operations in West Africa - Escalating violence in the Sahel. Accessed June 7, 2020 (German).
  12. a b Maxime HA Larive: Welcome to France's New War on Terror in Africa: Operation Barkhane . In: nationalinterest.org .
  13. ^ A b Hollande announces new military operation in West Africa ( memento of October 8, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), france24.com.
  14. ^ Opération Barkhane , French Ministry of Defense.
  15. ^ France Launches New Sahel Counter-Terrorism Operation Barkhane , ibtimes.co.uk.
  16. ^ G5 Sahel Group: More than just military. Deutsche Welle, July 3, 2017, accessed on July 4, 2017 .
  17. Macron supports anti-terrorist troops in West Africa. Zeit Online, July 2, 2017, accessed July 4, 2017 .
  18. ^ Agence France-Presse: Three French soldiers killed in Mali mine blast (English) . In: The Guardian , April 13, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016. 
  19. Baba Ahmed: French forces arrest 8 jihadists in northern Mali: Official . Star Tribune. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  20. ^ French soldier killed in 'clash with terrorists' in Mali . France April 24th, 6th 2017.
  21. uk.mobile.reuters.com