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Feb. 17 (UPI) -- French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that French troops are leaving Mali after African leaders met in Paris to discuss plans on how to fight a continued jihadist uprising in the Sahel region. Macron and France's security partners said the break from Mali comes after a disagreement with the ruling junta that runs the country.
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"We cannot remain militarily engaged alongside de-facto authorities whose strategy and hidden aims we do not share," Macron said, according to France 24.
France, Canada and European and regional states said they had faced "multiple obstructions" by Malian authorities during their time in the country and that "political, operational and legal conditions are no longer met to effectively continue" military engagement, the Washington Post reported.
Col. Souleymane Dembele, a spokesman for the Malian government, sought to downplay the announcement, suggesting that terrorism "engulfed" their country despite the presence of foreign troops supporting them.
France found early success in initially repelling Islamic militants in West Africa in 2013. Terrorist groups there, though, reconstituted to continue fighting, getting wins that threatened the sitting governments.
The United States has 1,100 in West Africa, supporting French efforts and had provided logistical and intelligence assistance. It is not known what will happen to those efforts with the French pullout.
