The Takuba group of 800 military is now dependent on the goodwill of the Malian junta.
Le Monde with AFP
This announcement then intervenes that the future of the Takuba intervention force, born in 2020 at the initiative of Paris and to which a dozen European countries participate, is threatened. Thirty jihadists were killed in early February in the Malian liptako by the Takuba group and the Malian armed forces that they accompany the fight, announced Tuesday, February 8 the French staff, in the middle of the diplomatic voltage. Bamako and Paris.
“This is the first time that a Malian unit engaged with Takuba obtains such an operational assessment”, argues the staff, stating that this operation, conducted by the 1 er On February 6 in the so-called “three border” zone, on the confines of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, seized “many equipment and components for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices”.
Faced with a hostile junta, which has just expelled his ambassador and demanded the departure of a freshly deployed Danish contingent in Mali, Paris was up to mid-February to decide with his European partners. The future of their military presence in this country, where France has been fighting since 2013, at the price of 53 soldiers killed.
towards a departure from Mali?
This reflection could lead to the departure of the Mali of the French troops and the special forces of Takuba, who have been the target Tuesday of virulent critics on the part of Malian Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, who accused this grouping of ” Divide Mali “. Takuba, “It’s” the sword “, in [Language] Songhai and Tamasheq, it’s not a name that was taken by chance,” he said.
Depending on the details provided by the staff in a statement, “1 er As of February 6, 2022, a Task Force Takuba unit composed of the Franco-Estonian Task Group in partnership. Fight with the slight recognition and intervention unit (ULRI) number 4, operated in the Malian liptako. During this harassment mission, different groups of terrorists have been located, identified and neutralized by the Malian soldiers, supported by the Force [French Antidjihad] Barkhane “. “This operation testifies to the high level of cooperation, autonomy and maturity of ULRI number 4 as well as the effectiveness of the combat partnership between the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and TF Takuba”, argues the Staff.
Symbol of a Defense Europe dear to Emmanuel Macron, this Takuba group of 800 military is now dependent on the goodwill of the Malian junta. Norway announced that it renounced sending a small quota, lack of agreement with Bamako.
The relocation of the Takuba force, created by Paris to share the burden, is not possible in its current form. But its principle of accompaniment to the fight of local armies by small contingents of European special forces could be proposed to other countries in the region, is a diplomatic source from the France-Presse agency.