French Defence Minister Florence Parly on Monday hit back at Mail’s Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga’s claims that France is abandoning the war-torn country by calling back military troops from the restive Sahel region, reported France 24.
During a Paris conference, Parly said that there was no French pullout from the Sahel region.
The statement comes just two days after Mali’s Prime Minister accused France of pulling itself back from the fight against jihadist insurgents in West Africa.
“When you have thousands of troops on the ground […] and deploy brand-new tanks in the Sahel, that is hardly the attitude of a country that is looking for a way out,” said Parly.
She noted that Maiga’s indecent and unacceptable allegations came a day after a French soldier was killed in the region. The death accounts for the 52nd fatality since the deployment of French forces in 2013.
On Saturday, Maiga told the UN General Assembly that he regretted the French government’s announcement that it would reduce military troops in the Sahel.
France’s Barkhane military operation commander, General Laurent Michon, also rejected Malian Prime Minister Maiga’s claims.
General Michon said that the plan to leave Tessalit, Kidal, and Timbuktu was announced about two years ago and it was drawn up with the G5 heads of state. The total number of troops in the region is to be cut from the current 5,000 to between 2,500 and 3,000 by 2023.
He rejected Maiga’s abandonment claims that he used to describe the restructuring of France’s military presence in the Sahel.
In related news, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the United Nations on Monday that French military efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel are not sustainable without political stability and respect for the democratic process.
While addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Drian said the timetable for elections in Mali must be strictly observed.
