Operation Barkhane

Operation Barkhane
	Part of the Mali War, the insurgency in the Sahel and the War on terror
	; French soldiers of the 126th Infantry Regiment and Malian soldiers, 17 March 2016
Date	1 August 2014 – 9 November 2022; (8 years, 3 months, 1 week and 1 day)
Location	Sahel: Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad
Result	Failure of French forces in suppressing jihadists French forces withdraw from Mali in August 2022, with the operation being based in Niger; France ends the operation in November 2022;
Belligerents
France; G5 Sahel Burkina Faso; Chad; Mali (until August 2022); Mauritania; Niger; Estonia; Sweden ; Czech Republic Supported by:; United Kingdom; Canada; United States; Denmark	AQIM; Nusrat al-Islam ; (2017–2022); Al-Mourabitoun ; (2014–17); Ansar Dine ; (2014–17) ; IS-GS ; (2015–2022)
Commanders and leaders
Emmanuel Macron ; (President of France, from 2017); Élisabeth Borne ; (Prime Minister of France, from 2022); Assimi Goïta ; (President of Mali, from 2021); Abdoulaye Maïga ; (Prime Minister of Mali, from 2022); Mohamed Bazoum ; (President of Niger, from 2021); Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou ; (Prime Minister of Niger, from 2021); Ibrahim Traoré ; (President of Burkina Faso, from 2022); Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla ; (Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, from 2022); Mohamed Ould Ghazouani ; (President of Mauritania, from 2019); Mohamed Ould Bilal ; (Prime Minister of Mauritania, from 2020); Mahamat Déby ; (President of Chad, from 2021); Saleh Kebzabo ; (Prime Minister of Chad, from 2022); Alar Karis ; (President of Estonia, from 2021); Kaja Kallas ; (Prime Minister of Estonia, from 2021); Charles III ; (King of the United Kingdom, from 2022); Rishi Sunak ; (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 2022); Justin Trudeau ; (Prime Minister of Canada, from 2015) ; Joe Biden ; (President of the United States, from 2021); Margrethe II ; (Queen of Denmark, from 2014); Mette Frederiksen ; (Prime Minister of Denmark, from 2019); Miloš Zeman ; (President of the Czech Republic, from 2014); Petr Fiala ; (Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, from 2021); Carl XVI Gustaf ; (King of Sweden, from 2014); Ulf Kristersson ; (Prime Minister of Sweden, from 2022) Former: François Hollande ; Manuel Valls ; Bernard Cazeneuve ; Édouard Philippe ; Jean Castex ; Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta ; Bah Ndaw ; Moussa Mara ; Modibo Keita ; Abdoulaye Idrissa Maïga ; Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga ; Boubou Cissé ; Moctar Ouane ; Choguel Kokalla Maïga ; Mahamadou Issoufou ; Brigi Rafini ; Blaise Compaoré ; Honoré Traoré ; Yacouba Isaac Zida ; Michel Kafando ; Gilbert Diendéré ; Chérif Sy ; Roch Marc Christian Kaboré ; Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba ; Luc-Adolphe Tiao ; Yacouba Isaac Zida ; Paul Kaba Thieba ; Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré ; Lassina Zerbo ; Albert Ouédraogo ; Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ; Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf ; Yahya Ould Hademine ; Mohamed Salem Ould Béchir ; Ismail Ould Bedde Ould Cheikh Sidiya ; Idriss Déby † ; Kalzeubet Pahimi Deubet ; Albert Pahimi Padacké ; Kersti Kaljulaid ; Toomas Hendrik Ilves ; Taavi Rõivas ; Jüri Ratas ; Elizabeth II ; David Cameron ; Theresa May ; Boris Johnson ; Liz Truss ; Stephen Harper ; Barack Obama ; Donald Trump ; Helle Thorning-Schmidt ; Lars Løkke Rasmussen ; Bohuslav Sobotka ; Andrej Babiš ; Fredrik Reinfeldt ; Stefan Löfven ; Magdalena Andersson ;	Iyad Ag Ghaly; Djamel Okacha †; Mokhtar Belmokhtar; Abdelmalek Droukdel †; Yahia Djouadi †; Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi †; Oumeya Ould Albakaye (POW)
Strength
3,000 troops (since 2022); 5,500 troops (at peak); 95 troops; 90 troops; 3 heavy lift helicopters; 70 troops ; 2 heavy lift helicopters; 150 troops ; 3 medium-lift helicopters, 1 C-130	6,000 fighters (all groups)
Casualties and losses
53 killed; 6 wounded; 4 killed, 2 wounded	2,800+ killed; Unknown wounded and captured

Operation Barkhane (French: Opération Barkhane) was a counterinsurgency operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region and consisted of a roughly 3,000-strong French force, which was permanently headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. The operation was led in co-operation with five countries, all of which are former French colonies that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Mali was a part of the operation until August 2022. The countries are collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel". The operation was named after a crescent-shaped dune type that is common in the Sahara desert.

The French military initially intervened in Mali in early 2013 as part of Operation Serval, which successfully regained the northern half of the country from Islamist groups. Operation Barkhane is intended to follow up to that success and has expanded the French military's operations over a vast area of the Sahel region. The operation has the stated aim of helping the countries' governments to maintain control of their territory and preventing the region from becoming a safe haven for Islamist terrorist groups that plan to attack France and Europe.

On 24 May 2021, the 2021 Malian coup d'état was carried out by Vice President Assimi Goïta. French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June 2021 that the operation would soon end and French forces would pull out in a phased manner, due to France's inability to work with the national governments in the Sahel region. He however added that French forces would remain in the region as part of a larger international mission. The operation was later scheduled to end by the first quarter of 2022.

France began withdrawing its troops from Mali on 17 February 2022. Macron announced that the base of Barkhane will shift to Niger. The military junta ruling Mali however asked France to withdraw without delay on 18 March, with Macron responding that they would withdraw over the next four to six months. French forces fully withdrew from Mali on 15 August. The French military stated that the operation was not ending, but being reformulated. However on 9 November, Macron announced the end of Operation Barkhane.

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