Mali’s escalating security challenges: the aftermath of french military departure

Across the vast, red-dusted expanses of the Sahel, where conflict often unfolds unseen by distant eyes, Mali now confronts a harsh reality: dismissing those who once stood firm against encroaching chaos carries profound repercussions.

The recent surge in attacks devastating the nation is neither accidental nor predetermined. Instead, these tragic events represent the foreseeable outcome of a pronounced political severance, one championed as an assertion of national sovereignty. This proclaimed independence, fueled by pervasive anti-French rhetoric, served as a potent tool for internal legitimacy.

Bamako sought the French departure, and Bamako achieved it.

The final French military convoys departed from Gao, Tessalit, and Ménaka amidst public derision, fueled by years of accusatory narratives. At the time, operational realities seemed secondary. Little consideration was given to the fact that in 2013, when jihadist columns threatened to advance southward, French forces were instrumental in averting the imminent collapse of the Malian state.

President Emmanuel Macron recently underscored this with a stark clarity: « Mali made a poor choice by expelling the French army ». This straightforward, almost clinical statement now echoes as a profound strategic truth.

While the French head of state has acknowledged past French missteps, recognizing that Paris sometimes overemphasized military solutions without fostering essential local political reforms, his stance on one crucial aspect remains firm: without French intervention, Mali could have descended into chaos. He previously stated unequivocally: « Without France, Mali would cease to be a unified state ».

Today, this stark reality appears to re-emerge with brutal force.

On the ground, however, slogans and political posturing hold no sway. Following the evacuation of French bases, a stark security vacuum became undeniable. Affiliates of Al-Qaïda and the Islamic State swiftly seized the opportunity to exploit these vulnerabilities. Where Operation Barkhane once contained, monitored, engaged, and gathered intelligence, Malian authorities now struggle to maintain lasting control over their vast territory.

Beyond these recent developments, there is a memory that must not be disrespectfully overlooked.

Fifty-eight French soldiers perished in the Sahel.

Fifty-eight individuals fell in a conflict that was anything but abstract or theoretical. Their lives ended in places like Kidal, in the Adrar des Ifoghas, and near In Delimane, often on booby-trapped roads, during nocturnal operations, under scorching conditions, facing an elusive, mobile, and pervasive adversary.

These soldiers were not occupiers. They were not colonial predators disguised in militant narratives. They served as instruments of a military commitment undertaken by the French Republic to prevent the establishment of a terrorist safe haven in the heart of the Sahel.

They paid the ultimate price.

Their sacrifice demands at least one consideration: that their memory not be lost amidst ideological oversimplifications.

Indeed, France acknowledges its past errors. Yet, for years, it also bore an immense military burden, almost single-handedly striving to maintain a fragile regional balance.

Mali opted to dismantle this security framework in the name of declared independence. The nation must now face the profound repercussions of that decision.

When Emmanuel Macron stated that Bamako had not made « the best decision », he was not expressing post-colonial resentment or sentimental regret. He was merely observing what reality now confirms with relentless severity: in certain parts of the world, a declared sovereignty alone is insufficient to halt advancing jihadist columns.

For France, the Sahel became a theater of diplomatic attrition.

However, for the French soldiers, it remains something more profound: a field of honor.

And that honor is not subject to the shifting tides of public opinion.