Since the announcement of the official withdrawal from Mali, made by the President of the Republic, on February 17, and despite the outbreak of war in Ukraine, seven days later, the French army remains very busy with the logistical maneuver that represents the transformation of the system in 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 Operation Barkhane represents an effort which could last until the first quarter of 2023.
“It’s fine watchmaking”, observed, Tuesday, July 5, military sources detailing the extent of this maneuver. In six months, more than 50% of the equipment used by “Barkhane” in recent years has been taken out of Mali. That is more than 3,300 of the approximately 5,700 20-foot containers that the armies estimate should repatriate to France in total. This volume comes from the five bases already returned by France to the Malian armed forces since October 2021. Namely Kidal, Tessalit, Timbuktu, which were evacuated at the end of 2021, Gossi, in April, and Ménaka, on June 13.
However, there are still nearly 2,500 containers to be evacuated from Mali. In particular, all the equipment that France has at its base in Gao, in the east of the country. A hold that had become the largest French base in Africa, in terms of numbers. “In Gao, it’s a real city that we are dismantling”, comments an officer. Gao’s footprint alone represents the equivalent of 3,100 containers, while all the bases evacuated so far constitute 100 to 800 containers each.
“Diversify” routes
Since the beginning of the French withdrawal, part of this material has been evacuated by air, in particular sensitive equipment such as weapons or ammunition. The armies have several A330 MRTTs and A400Ms. They also lease five Antonovs from the Ukrainian company of the same name, a regular partner in this type of operation. The company’s main factory was bombed at the start of the war in Ukraine, but was able to relocate part of its fleet to Leipzig, Germany. The United States and other European countries also contribute to these air bridges, by providing their military transport aircraft, some of which are rented from private companies.
However, a large part of the material is evacuated by land. This requires the organization of long convoys that may be required to drive, depending on the destination, for five to ten days on unsafe 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.
You have 37.33% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.