France to pull troops from Mali after 10 years of failure

France has announced that it will withdraw thousands of troops from Mali due to a breakdown in relations with the country, a decade after launching a war without the initial approval of the United Nations or even the French parliament.

According to Press TV, a statement signed by France and its African and European allies said on Thursday that "multiple obstructions" meant the conditions were no longer in place to operate in Mali. 

The decision applies to both the 2,400 French troops in Mali, where France first deployed in 2013, and a European force of several hundred soldiers that was created in 2020. 

Relations between Paris and Bamako have deteriorated since the ruling military took power in August 2020.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed at a news conference that France's bases in Gossi, Menaka and Gao in Mali would be closed within the next four to six months.

"We cannot remain militarily engaged alongside de facto authorities whose strategy and hidden aims we do not share," Macron said. The withdrawal would be carried out in an "orderly" manner, he said. 

Macron also "completely" rejected the idea that France had failed its mission in the country. 

Mali's Armed Forces Spokesperson Souleymane Dembele shrugged off France's announcement, saying European troops had failed to curb militancy. 

"I think that there has been no military solution, because terrorism has engulfed the entire territory of Mali," he said. 

Tensions have been mounting after Mali expelled its French envoy over what the country described as “hostile and outrageous” comments by the former colonial power.

Mali's prime minister earlier this month blasted France for attempting to divide his country during a foreign military mission against terrorist groups.

Choguel Kokalla Maiga, head of the government that came to power in June 2021, said the French intervention "later turned into a de facto partition of the country."