The fight against jihadists on the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso is being reorganized. Chad announced on Saturday that it had halved its troops deployed in February within the G5 Sahel force in the “three border zone”. Besides Chad, this multinational force concerns Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso.
“We redeployed 600 men in Chad in agreement with the G5 Sahel forces. This is a strategic redeployment to best adapt to the organization of terrorists, ”said Abderaman Koulamallah, government spokesman. A contingent of 1,200 Chadian soldiers had been deployed there.
Recurring attacks
The “three borders” area is, along with central Mali, the most affected by jihadist attacks. The groups there are notably affiliated with Al-Qaida or the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS). The last attack on Saturday against a village in this area in Niger left a dozen civilians dead. On Monday, another attack left 37 dead.
“This is a long-standing concerted decision with the G5 command. We wanted to lighten the device which was not suitable ”, assured Abderaman Koulamallah. “Compared to the situation on the ground, we must have a mobile force, hence the withdrawal of some of our forces with heavy weapons,” added the government spokesman according to whom the “political will to face the jihadists remains intact ”.
Reduction of French troops
France, very involved in the region, recently announced the gradual reduction of its military personnel in the Sahel in favor of a reduced device from 2,500 to 3,000 men, against the 5,000 or so who made up the Barkhane force which was to disappear. The dispatch of Chadian soldiers, before being effective in February, had been demanded for several years by Paris. The French Ministry of the Armed Forces confirmed that the Chadian decision “was taken in perfect consultation with the partners of the G5 Sahel as well as of the coalition for the Sahel, including France”.
In the three-border zone, the jihadist presence is grafted onto long-standing tensions between communities, some of which have formed into armed groups fueling the violence. The jihadists play on these old hostilities, recruit from the populations, offer protection, take their tithes. Civilians, caught in the crossfire, must choose between staying and fleeing when, for many of them, it was already war that drove them there several years ago. Those who remain are also at risk of bandits, cattle rustling and assassination. The border between community violence, jihadism and banditry is sometimes thin.