This announcement comes at a time when the future of the Takuba intervention force, created in 2020 at the initiative of Paris and in which a dozen European countries participate, is threatened. Thirty jihadists were killed in early February in Mali’s Liptako by the Takuba group and the Malian armed forces they are accompanying in combat, the French general staff announced on Tuesday (February 8th), in the midst of diplomatic tension between Bamako and Paris.
“This is the first time that a Malian unit engaged with Takuba has obtained such an operational record”argues the staff, specifying that this operation, carried out from 1er to February 6 in the area known as the “three borders”on the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, made it possible to seize “many equipment and components for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices”.
Faced with a hostile junta, which has just expelled its ambassador and demanded the departure of a Danish contingent freshly deployed in Mali, Paris has given itself until mid-February to decide with its European partners on the future. of their military presence in this country, where France has been fighting since 2013, at the cost of 53 soldiers killed.
Towards a departure from Mali?
This reflection could well lead to the departure from Mali of French troops and Takuba’s special forces, which were the target of virulent criticism on Tuesday from the Malian Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, who accused this group of “divide Mali”. Takuba, ” it is “the sword”in [langue] songhai and in tamasheq, it is not a name that was taken by chance”he said.
According to details provided by the General Staff in a press release, “from 1er as of February 6, 2022, a unit of the Takuba task force composed of the Franco-Estonian task group in combat partnership with the light reconnaissance and intervention unit (ULRI) number 4, operated in the Malian Liptako. During this harassment mission, various groups of terrorists were located, identified and neutralized by Malian soldiers, supported by force [antidjihadiste française] Barchan ». “This operation demonstrates 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 Europe of defense dear to Emmanuel Macron, this Takuba group of 800 soldiers is now dependent on the goodwill of the Malian junta. Norway announced that it was giving up sending a small contingent, for lack of agreement with Bamako.
The relocation of the Takuba force, created by Paris to share the burden, is not an option in its current form. But its principle of supporting local armies in combat by small contingents of European special forces could be offered to other countries in the region, according to a diplomatic source from Agence France-Presse.