Operation Serval
Following the end of Operation Serval, France recognised the need to provide stability in the wider Sahel region by helping the region's various governments combat terrorism. The former French Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that France recognised that “there still is a major risk that jihadists develop in the area that runs from the Horn of Africa to Guinea-Bissau.” Therefore, Operation Barkhane was launched in order to assure the Sahel nations' security, and in effect France's security. The operation is the successor of Operation Serval, the French military mission in Mali, and Operation Epervier, the mission in Chad.