Mali’s ruling military junta on Friday called out France to withdraw troops from the country without any delay in response to Paris’ plans to pull out over several months, reported Africa News.
In a statement announced on public television on Friday, a junta spokesman said the results of France’s nine-year military engagement in conflict-torn Mali were unsatisfactory.
On Thursday, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said a decision by France and European allies to withdraw their forces from the West African nation was a unilateral move that violated military accords between Mali and France.
“In view of its repeated breaches of the defense agreements, the government invites French authorities to withdraw without delay, the Barkhan and Takouba forces from the national territory under the supervision of the Malian authorities,” Maiga said.
On Thursday, the French government confirmed it would soon begin pulling out its forces from Mali and that the withdrawal would take place over four to six months.
France first deployed its military troops in Mali in 2013 to combat a jihadist insurgency. It currently has thousands of troops stationed across the Sahel, with the majority in Mali. The relations between the two countries deteriorated after Mali’s military seized power in a coup in 2020, and later rejected international calls to restore civilian rule.
In August 2020, the Malian army led by Col Assimi Goita ousted elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The army then deposed the civilian leaders of a transitional government last year, in a second coup.
Mali’s junta spokesman Colonel Maiga called the prolonged French withdrawal a “flagrant violation” of accords between the two countries.
“In view of these repeated breaches of defence agreements, the government invites the French authorities to withdraw, without delay,” he said.
The French president Emmanuel Macron responded with a statement saying he would not compromise the safety of French soldiers and the withdrawal will take place take place in an orderly fashion.
