France began the withdrawal of its troops from Senegal, evacuating its forces from the three bases, namely "Marechal," "Saint-Exupery," and "Contre-amiral Protet," which have been placed under Senegalese control, local media reported.
All remaining French bases in Senegal will reportedly come under Senegalese control by the end of summer. While most troops are relocating, the future of a French surveillance aircraft Falcon 50 and the strategically important Rufisque base in the Dakar region remain under negotiation between Paris and Dakar, reports noted.
In 2022, the French military, which had been present in Africa's Sahel region since 2014 as part of the counter-terrorism operation Barkhane, was forced to leave Mali. In 2023, France also withdrew its troops from Burkina Faso and Niger at the request of the countries' authorities. At the end of November 2024, the Chadian Foreign Ministry announced the end of defense cooperation with France, and France began withdrawing its troops from Chad.