French army leaves Senegal ending military presence in West Africa
Ending the French army's 65 years in Senegal, the pull-out comes after similar withdrawals across the continent, with former colonies increasingly turning their backs on their former ruler.
The French withdrawal comes as the Sahel region faces a growing jihadist conflict across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that is threatening Gulf of Guinea nations to the south. A recent string of attacks this month in Mali included an assault on a town on the border with Senegal.
France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in the West African country, and its airfield at Dakar airport, in a ceremony attended by top French and Senegalese officials, including Senegalese chief of staff General Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in Africa.
Around 350 French soldiers, primarily tasked with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, are now leaving, marking the end of a three-month departure process that began in March.
After storming to victory in the 2024 elections, promising radical change, Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw troops from the country by 2025.
Unlike the leaders of other former colonies, such as junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, however, Mr. Faye has insisted that Senegal will keep working with Paris.
'Sovereignty'
After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France's staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its history.
Mr. Faye's predecessor, Macky Sall, continued that tradition.
Mr. Faye, who ran on a ticket promising a clean break with the Sall era, has said that Senegal would treat France like any other foreign partner.
Pledging to make his country more self-sufficient, the president gave a deadline of the end of 2025 for all foreign armies to withdraw.
'Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,' Mr. Faye said at the end of 2024, while maintaining that 'France remains an important partner for Senegal'.
Mr. Faye has also urged Paris to apologise for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944, of dozens of African troops who had fought for France in World War II.
Continent-wide pull-out
With governments across Africa increasingly questioning France's military presence, Paris has closed or reduced numbers at bases across its former empire.
In February France handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence at the site.
The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the unrest-hit Sahel region.
Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali between 2020 and 2023 have swept military strongmen to power. All have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel's decade-long jihadist insurgency.
The Central African Republic, also a former French colony to which the Kremlin has sent mercenaries, has likewise demanded a French pull-out.
Meanwhile the army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with the central African nation.
Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will be home to a permanent French army base following Thursday's (July 17, 2025) withdrawal.
France intends to make its base in Djibouti, with some 1,500 people, its military headquarters for Africa.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
French ministers say EU-US trade deal has merits but is also unbalanced
French government ministers said a framework trade deal between the United States and European Union had some merits – such as exemptions for some key French business sectors such as spirits – but was nevertheless unbalanced. 'The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, but it is unbalanced,' wrote French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad on X. That view was echoed by France's industry minister Marc Ferracci, who said more talks – which could last weeks or months – would be needed before the deal could be formally concluded. Ferracci told RTL radio that more needed to be done in terms of rebalancing the EU's trade relations with the U.S. 'This is not the end of the story,' Ferracci told RTL.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
24 minutes ago
- Business Standard
What to expect at UN meeting on Israel-Palestinian two-state solution?
The UN General Assembly is bringing high-level officials together this week to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict that would place their peoples side by side, living in peace in independent nations. Israel and its close ally the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, which starts Monday and will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia. Israel's right-wing government opposes a two-state solution, and the United States has called the meeting counterproductive to its efforts to end the war in Gaza. France and Saudi Arabia want the meeting to put a spotlight on the two-state solution, which they view as the only viable road map to peace, and to start addressing the steps to get there. The meeting was postponed from late June and downgraded from a four-day meeting of world leaders amid surging tensions in the Middle East, including Israel's 12-day war against Iran and the war in Gaza. It was absolutely necessary to restart a political process, the two-state solution process, that is today threatened, more threatened than it has ever been," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Sunday on CBS News' Face the Nation." Here's what's useful to know about the upcoming gathering. Why a two-state solution? The idea of dividing the Holy Land goes back decades. When the British mandate over Palestine ended, the UN partition plan in 1947 envisioned dividing the territory into Jewish and Arab states. Israel accepted the plan, but upon Israel's declaration of independence the following year, its Arab neighbors declared war and the plan was never implemented. Under a 1949 armistice, Jordan held control over the West Bank and east Jerusalem and Egypt over Gaza. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those lands for a future independent state alongside Israel, and this idea of a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 boundaries has been the basis of peace talks dating back to the 1990s. The two-state solution has wide international support. The logic behind it is that the population of Israel along with east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza is divided equally between Jews and Palestinians. The establishment of an independent Palestine would leave Israel as a democratic country with a solid Jewish majority and grant the Palestinians their dream of self-determination. Why hold a conference now? France and Saudi Arabia have said they want to put a spotlight on the two-state solution as the only viable path to peace in the Middle East and they want to see a road map with specific steps, first ending the war in Gaza. The co-chairs said in a document sent to U.N. members in May that the primary goal of the meeting is to identify actions by all relevant actors to implement the two-state solution and to urgently mobilize the necessary efforts and resources to achieve this aim, through concrete and time-bound commitments. Saudi diplomat Manal Radwan, who led the country's delegation to the preparatory conference, said the meeting must chart a course for action, not reflection. It must be anchored in a credible and irreversible political plan that addresses the root cause of the conflict and offers a real path to peace, dignity and mutual security, she said. French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution in parallel with a recognition of Israel's right to defend itself. He announced late Thursday that France will recognize the state of Palestine officially at the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in late September. About 145 countries have recognized the state of Palestine. But Macron's announcement, ahead of Monday's meeting and amid increasing global anger over desperately hungry people in Gaza starting to die from starvation, makes France the most important Western power to do so. What is Israel's view? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the two-state solution on both nationalistic and security grounds. Netanyahu's religious and nationalist base views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people, while Israeli Jews overwhelmingly consider Jerusalem their eternal capital. The city's eastern side is home to Judaism's holiest site, along with major Christian and Muslim holy places. Hard-line Israelis like Netanyahu believe the Palestinians don't want peace, citing the second Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s, and more recently the Hamas takeover of Gaza two years after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005. The Hamas takeover led to five wars, including the current and ongoing 21-month conflict. At the same time, Israel also opposes a one-state solution in which Jews could lose their majority. Netanyahu's preference seems to be the status quo, where Israel maintains overall control and Israelis have fuller rights than Palestinians, Israel deepens its control by expanding settlements, and the Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in pockets of the West Bank. Netanyahu condemned Macron's announcement of Palestinian recognition, saying it rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became." What is the Palestinian view? The Palestinians, who label the current arrangement apartheid, accuse Israel of undermining repeated peace initiatives by deepening settlement construction in the West Bank and threatening annexation. That would harm the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state and their prospects for independence. Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and close associate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the meeting will serve as preparation for a presidential summit expected in September. It will take place either in France or at the U.N. on the sidelines of the high-level meeting, U.N. diplomats said. Majdalani said the Palestinians have several goals, first a serious international political process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians also want additional international recognition of their state by major countries including Britain. But expect that to happen in September, not at Monday's meeting, Majdalani said. And he said they want economic and financial support for the Palestinian Authority and international support for the reconstruction and recovery of the Gaza Strip. What will happen and won't happen at the meeting? All 193 UN member nations have been invited to attend the meeting and a French diplomat said about 40 ministers are expected. The United States and Israel are the only countries who are boycotting. The co-chairs have circulated an outcome document which could be adopted, and there could be some announcements of intentions to recognize a Palestinian state. But with Israel and the United States boycotting, there is no prospect of a breakthrough and the resumption of long-stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on an end to their conflict. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres urged participants after the meeting was announced to keep the two-state solution alive. And he said the international community must not only support a solution where independent states of Palestine and Israel live side-by-side in peace but materialize the conditions to make it happen.
NDTV
24 minutes ago
- NDTV
"Worst Kind Of Troll": P Chidambaram Counters BJP Fire Over Pahalgam Remark
New Delhi: Countering the BJP's attack over his remarks on the Pahalgam terror attack, Congress veteran P Chidambaram has said the "worst kind of troll" is one who suppresses a full interview and uses two sentences to paint the speaker black. "Trolls are of different kinds and use different tools to spread misinformation. The worst kind is a troll who suppresses the full recorded interview, takes two sentences, mutes some words, and paints the speaker in a black colour," the former Home Minister said amid the massive row over his remarks in an interview with The Quint. Trolls are of different kinds and use different tools to spread misinformation The worst kind is a troll who suppresses the full recorded interview, takes two sentences, mutes some words, and paints the speaker in a black colour! — P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) July 28, 2025 Mr Chidambaram said in the interview that the government is unwilling to disclose the work NIA has done in the aftermath of the terror attack. "Have they identified the terrorists? Where they came from? I mean, for all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There's no evidence of that," he said. The Centre and the security establishment have maintained that the Pahalgam killers, who murdered 26 innocents in cold blood in front of other families, were Pakistan nationals. Mr Chidambaram also accused the government of "hiding the losses" during Operation Sindoor, India's counterstrike after the Pahalgam attack. "They are also hiding the losses. I said it in a column that in a war, losses will occur on both sides. I understand that India would have suffered losses. Be upfront." "Winston Churchill in World War II made a statement every other day. Whatever losses they suffered, Britain suffered; they made it plain. Therefore, they are reluctant to admit the losses. But losses are inevitable and natural in a war. So, admit the losses. I think they think they can put a large shroud on Operation Sindoor. It won't work," the Rajya Sabha MP said. The remarks drew a sharp response from the ruling BJP. "P Chidambaram, former UPA-era Home Minister and the original proponent of the infamous 'Saffron Terror' theory, covers himself with glory yet again: Have they (NIA) identified the terrorists or where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume they came from Pakistan? There is no evidence of that," senior BJP leader Amit Malviya said on X. P. Chidambaram, former UPA-era Home Minister and the original proponent of the infamous 'Saffron Terror' theory, covers himself with glory yet again: 'Have they (NIA) identified the terrorists or where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do… — Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 27, 2025 "Once again, the Congress rushes to give a clean chit to Pakistan - this time after the Pahalgam terror attack. Why is it that every time our forces confront Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Congress leaders sound more like Islamabad's defence lawyers than India's opposition?" Mr Malviya added. "When it comes to national security, there should be no ambiguity. But with the Congress, there never is - they always bend over backwards to protect the enemy," he said. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, too, accused the Congress of giving a clean chit to Pakistan hours ahead of the Parliament debate. "26/11 to Surgical Strike to Pahalgam, Congress ka haath, Pakistan ke saath!" Mr Chidambaram's remarks have now set the tone for the big Operation Sindoor debate in Parliament. The BJP will likely use the remarks to try and corner the Congress as the latter grills the ruling party over the sudden ceasefire announcement that paused India's counterstrike against Pakistan. In the interview, Mr Chidambaram also asked why the government was "ducking" questions. "And why is the Prime Minister not speaking on Operation Sindoor? Why do you think there's a reluctance to have a debate in the temple of democracy? That's what Parliament is. After all, Prime Minister Modi has addressed the nation. He's addressed various rallies," he said. The Congress leader also referred to US President Donald Trump's claim that he brokered the ceasefire. While Pakistan has endorsed this, India has been silent on the US role and stressed that Pakistan reached out to New Delhi for an end to hostilities. "One side says Donald Trump brought about the ceasefire. And we are obliquely saying Donald Trump had no role in the ceasefire. If he had a role, why not admit it?" he asked.
