The departure of the last French soldier from Mali is still planned for the end of the summer, but the repatriation of tons of equipment today stored in neighboring countries could escape until the first quarter 2023.
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Since the announcement of the official withdrawal of Mali, made by the President of the Republic, on February 17, and despite the start of the war in Ukraine, seven days later, the French army remains very monopolized by the maneuver Logistics represented by the transformation of the device to the Sahel. While the departure of the last French soldier from Mali is still planned for the end of the summer, the complete repatriation of the tons of equipment from the “Barkhane” operation represents an effort which could be eliminated until the first quarter of 2023.
“It is fine watchmaking”, observed, Tuesday, July 5, military sources detailing the magnitude of this maneuver. In six months, more than 50 % of the equipment used by “Barkhane” in recent years has been out of Mali. Or more than 3,300 among the approximately 5,700 containers of 20 feet that the armies consider having to repatriate in France in total. This volume comes from the five bases already rendered by France to the Malian armed forces since October 2021. Either Kidal, Tessalit, Timbuktu, who were evacuated at the end of 2021, Gossi, in April, and Ménaka, June 13.
However, it remains nearly 2,500 containers to evacuate from Mali. In particular all the equipment that France has on its basis of GAO, in the east of the country. A grip that had become the largest French base in Africa, in terms of staff. “In Gao, it’s a real city that we are disassembling,” said an officer. Gao’s grip alone represents the equivalent of 3,100 containers, while all the bases evacuated so far constitute from 100 to 800 containers each.
“Diversify” the routes
Since the start of the French withdrawal, part of this equipment has been evacuated by the air, in particular sensitive equipment such as weapons or ammunition. The armies have several A330 MRTT and A400M. They also rent five Antonov from the Ukrainian company of the same name, a regular partner of this type of operation. The main factory of the company was bombed at the start of the war in Ukraine, but was able to relocate part of its fleet in Leipzig, Germany. The United States and other European countries also contribute to these air bridges, by providing their military transportation devices, some of which are rented from private companies.
a good part of the equipment is however evacuated by land. This requires the organization of long convoys that may be led to ride, depending on the destination, for five to ten days on low -secure roads. A convoy represents on average 70 vehicles and transports the equivalent of 140 containers. The most sensitive convoys are escorted by the soldiers of “Barkhane”, the others are delegated to the local armed forces.
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