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France redeploys troops into several of its former colonies
by Joseph Earnest July 19, 2014
Newscast Media PARIS—French president has announced the redeployment of 3,000 French military forces in five of its former colonies across northwest Africa as a part of what it referred to as an anti-terrorist operation.
President Francois Hollande stated on Saturday that the new operation code-named "Barkhane" after a crescent-shaped dune in Sahara desert — will be out of Chad and will help "secure" the region in the fight on what he referred to as regional terrorism.
Hollande further underlined the importance of engagement by African forces.
This is while Chadian President Idriss Deby asserted that it is not always France's job to ensure security in the region and that African nations must also take charge.
The two counterparts met in Chad following the French president's visits to Niger and Ivory Coast.
Operation Barkhane will reportedly involve Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mali, where French troops intervened in 2013 under the pretext of routing radical militants in the mineral-rich African country.
The development comes just days after Mali and France signed a new military cooperation pact to jointly wage a battle against militants in the West African country. The agreement on Wednesday was reached between French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Malian counterpart Bah N'Daw in the Malian capital Bamako.
In January 2013, France deployed its troops to its former colony under the pretext of halting the advance of the Tuareg fighters in the African country's north.
Source: Press TV
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