France accused of 'covering up' civilian deaths in Sahel | DW News

France recently announced that it is ending its military operation against Islamist militants in West Africa's Sahel region. Paris launched 'Operation Barkhane' seven years ago to try to uproot Jihadists from several countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. France says it is not abandoning the region and will retain troops on the ground as part of a wider international force. But critics say the mission was struggling to achieve its goals.
Over 5,000 French troops are stationed across the Sahel region for Operation Barkhane. Launched in 2014, its goal was to push back Islamist militants gaining ground and influence. But the mission hasn't made the progress that was hoped for.
In Mali, jihadists still control swathes of the country, and the situation remains volatile across the region.
For some, that's cause to call for France to stay. But many welcome the change.
Others say the French mission was always a tall order. It covers a more than 5 million square kilometers across West Africa. Experts say securing such a huge area is almost impossible.
Adding to the difficulties, there are also accusations that French troops have killed more civilians than they've admitted. A group of investigative journalists is alleging that Paris is failing to be transparent about the number of civilian casualties. A recent investigation on the website, 'The New Humanitarian' says there are many incidences where French troops have claimed to be targeting Jihadists but have in fact ended up killing innocent civilians.
For now though the French aren't completely going away. The plan is they'll be part of a new mission that relies more on regional and international partners.

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[dingbario]

So we all can agree that the removal of Gadafi didn’t work out okay.?

[yutian]

France is quite literally the definition of neocolonialism. The CFA franc is colonialism repackaged with new marketing. Monetary policies from Paris continue to cripple domestic economies and undermine democracy. Colonialism in Africa won’t come to an end until true economic sovereignty without French interference is allowed.

[IbrahimIbrahim-bwko]

France is just saveguarding it geopolitical and imperialistic interets in the Sahel region which has become a training ground for troops. France will do anything to control former colonies, the source of natural ressources and raw materials for french companies. However the more developped the former colonies become, the more difficult to control them, hence why would France want them developped ? Why not be a pyromaniac firefighter and create conflicts to find a pretext to intervene, to settle bases and be present on the ground ?

[metalvideos]

how is this any news lol. you can accuse america england israel for this as well. literally nothing new about this.

[guseynovr]

Shame on colonizers. No colonization in 21 century

[khust]

Did Mali even asked them to be there, or was this initiated from French side?

[masombillal]

Not only france but also NATO militry is killing especially in afganistan by bombing throughout the africa....What a brutality this is !!

[md.soukatali]

In Bangladesh, 18 months-long educational institutions are closed. Initial, secondary, higher secondary education disaster conditions. We call for students to open educational institutions. Please we want news on this topic.

[alexsimpson]

The empires time is over! As soon France understands it as better. Europe must feel the time and the coming of new era Which will be better and more progressive for humanity to go forward!

[ChrisMas]

When military power and war is called ‘mission’. Btw: Where do the jihadists get financed from? Obviously they seem to have a lot of support from wealthy people/institutions. Perhaps, that source should be tackled.

[arsalanshah]

After all, france is a democratic country and this kind of democracy tells one to see just his own interests and for the interests, do whatever you can whether it is good or bad for other.

[ottodidakt]

France will hold on to it's local influence as long as possible, too much at stake. Concerning the "Barkhane operation", it was bound to fail, France doesn't have the means to cover and protect such a large area. In fact the French military chief of staff was against it from the start because we couldn't afford it, also noting that beyond the emergency intervention to the save the capital Bamako, the whole operation as conceived is not the correct strategy for winning against an insurgency.

[osloman]

We need to increase the budget for UN peacekeeping force and use blue helmets in Central Africa. French forces under french flag isn't the best way to go about it, unless of course French have ulterior motives.

[vtbfx]

This is just what's been reported
No one knows how many more such things there are

[omoruyijoseph]

Africa government is very foolish to allow France to help them at first

[Warmaster_horus]

They complain the french are there and when they leave they will complain that they left them

[wumaobot]

No wonder not only France but all the west are the best at it

[TLW-ke]

Peace for Erth big family 🌎💎🌦🕊❤🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[janalmarispiper]

What the cillivians doing with the terrorist? 25people and 19 was civilian and 6 was terrorist. They must be involved.

[grahamellis]

Send in the new European Union's new army instead.