Regions
France is reviewing its military presence in Mali following the expulsion of the French ambassador by the junta which seized power last year.
Paris and its European partners will make a decision by mid-February on whether to withdraw some or all of the troops serving in a special-forces unit, called Operation Barkhane, which fights Islamist militants.
Mali asked the ambassador to leave following what it described as “outrageous” comments by the French foreign minister, who described the military leadership as “illegitimate” and “out of control”.
Paris has already started scaling back its force of more than five-thousand troops who fight Islamists across the Sahel.
