https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240629/frances-african-command-paris-wants-to-pick-up-pieces-of-operation-barkhane-1067291296.html
France's African Command: Paris Wants to 'Pick Up Pieces of Operation Barkhane'
France's African Command: Paris Wants to 'Pick Up Pieces of Operation Barkhane'
Sputnik Africa
On Thursday, a French governmental decree was published, establishing a new African Command with Brigadier General Pascal Inni as commander-in-chief. This came... 29.06.2024, Sputnik Africa
2024-06-29T10:21+0200
2024-06-29T10:21+0200
2024-07-01T16:42+0200
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Paris wants to "pick up the pieces of Operation Barkhane," French journalist Jacques-Marie Bourget told Sputnik Africa, commenting on the establishment of France's new African Command.He was referring to the French-led military Operation Barkhane in the Sahel from 2014-2022, which was launched to counter the jihadist insurgency in the region and ultimately proved unsuccessful.General Pascal Ianni, who has been put in charge of the new command, "has spent his entire career in military universities or political offices rather than in the field. His specialty was strategy and especially questions of influence."Thus, Paris is trying to establish "bases that allow intervention from Côte d'Ivoire, from Senegal, from Gabon," he added. But at the military level, "it makes absolutely no sense," he stressed.
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240628/france-creates-african-command-within-armed-forces-1067277438.html
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france, paris, cote d'ivoire (ivory coast), military, west africa, africa insight
france, paris, cote d'ivoire (ivory coast), military, west africa, africa insight
France's African Command: Paris Wants to 'Pick Up Pieces of Operation Barkhane'
10:21 29.06.2024 (Updated: 16:42 01.07.2024) On Thursday, a French governmental decree was published, establishing a new African Command with Brigadier General Pascal Inni as commander-in-chief. This came against the backdrop of the reduction of French military presence on the continent.
Paris wants to "pick up the pieces of Operation Barkhane,"
French journalist Jacques-Marie Bourget told
Sputnik Africa, commenting on the establishment of
France's new African Command.
He was referring to the French-led military Operation Barkhane in the Sahel from 2014-2022, which was launched to counter the jihadist insurgency in the region and ultimately proved unsuccessful.
"Something had to be done to maintain a presence. This system is not really a military system in the sense of 'combat'. It is above all a system of information, of listening, of entering Africa as discreetly as possible," he said.
General Pascal Ianni, who has been put in charge of the new command, "has spent his entire career in military universities or political offices rather than in the field. His specialty was strategy and especially questions of influence."
The French presence in Africa, according to Bourget, "will change its form, because before, we were at home in Africa [...] There was a military presence, barbaric and devastating, throughout the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century that Africans do not forget."
Thus, Paris is trying to establish "bases that allow intervention from
Côte d'Ivoire, from Senegal, from Gabon," he added. But at the military level, "it makes absolutely no sense," he stressed.
"Pascal Ianni, is he going to meet African leaders to curry favor with them or to create a new alliance? I don't think that's his level," the journalist noted. "It would just be a matter of staying there as a concierge. The time when France was at home in all the countries of West Africa is over. It's over," insists Jacques-Marie Bourget.
