Page 106 - Kidal News Today

French forces left the city of Timbuktu late Tuesday, the latest sign that the former colonial power is drawing down its presence in northern Mali nearly nine years after driving Islamic extremists from power there in a military intervention.

French forces have been gradually withdrawing from the region, despite ongoing fighting with militants that threatens stability

TIMBUKTU - French troops have left a military base in Timbuktu, Mali, where they were posted since liberating the area from Islamist militants in 2013.

French troops leave a key military base in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali, handing it over to the Malian army nearly a decade after a military intervention in the West African country.

“This is ultimately the aim of Operation Barkhane: To allow Mali to take its destiny into its own hands … but always in partnership.”

TIMBUKTU - French troops have left a military base in Timbuktu, Mali, where they were posted since liberating the area from Islamist militants in 2013.

TIMBUKTU - French troops have left a military base in Timbuktu, Mali, where they were posted since liberating the area from Islamist militants in 2013.

GAO: After nine years deployed in Mali, France is organising a drawdown, with troops preparing to leave the last of...

French troops were preparing to leave the Malian city of Timbuktu on Tuesday, in a symbolic departure more than eight years after Paris first intervened in the conflict-torn Sahel state.

"Some people were overcome by emotion, women were crying, young people were shouting, I myself was overwhelmed," said Yehia Tandina, a Timbuktu television journalist. Mathieu, a French sergeant, has returned to the Timbuktu base for the handover ceremony. "Weve come full circle" he said, smiling