Key Facts
- Duration
- 1 Aug 2014 – 9 Nov 2022
- French force strength
- ~3,000 troops
- Partner nations (G5 Sahel)
- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger
- Preceded by
- Operation Serval (2013)
- French withdrawal from Mali
- Completed 15 August 2022
Strategic Narrative Overview
Barkhane maintained a roughly 3,000-strong force permanently headquartered in N'Djamena, conducting counterinsurgency missions across a vast desert theatre. The operation faced mounting difficulties as Islamist groups proved resilient and political relations deteriorated. The May 2021 coup in Mali by Assimi Goïta's military junta severely strained Franco-Malian cooperation, leading French President Macron to announce in June 2021 a phased withdrawal of forces.
01 / The Origins
Following Operation Serval's successful expulsion of Islamist groups from northern Mali in 2013, France launched Operation Barkhane on 1 August 2014 to consolidate those gains and prevent the wider Sahel from becoming a base for jihadist groups threatening France and Europe. The operation extended French military engagement across five former French colonies—Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger—collectively known as the G5 Sahel.
03 / The Outcome
France began withdrawing from Mali in February 2022 and completed the pull-out by 15 August 2022, following demands from Mali's military junta. On 9 November 2022, Macron formally announced the end of Operation Barkhane. France indicated its forces would remain in the region under a restructured international mission framework, though the centralised eight-year counterinsurgency operation had concluded without achieving lasting stability in the Sahel.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Emmanuel Macron, Assimi Goïta.
Side B
1 belligerent