page_title: Operation Barkhane
section_title: French forces
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Barkhane / Forces committed / French forces
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Africa, with the Sahel highlighted in orange. This is roughly the African land area between the lines of 200mm (north) and 600mm (south) mean 20th century annual rainfall. This is limited to land areas directly to the south of the Sahara desert and including the islands of Cape Verde, but not including other areas in Africa with the same rainfall statistics. This is one, but not the only, definition of the Sahel region.
context_page_description: Operation Barkhane is an ongoing anti-insurgent operation started on August 1, 2014 which is led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region. It consists of a roughly 5,000-strong French force, which is permanently headquartered in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. The operation is lead in cooperation with five countries, and former French colonies, that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. These countries are collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel".
  The operation is named after a crescent-shaped dune in the Sahara desert.
  The French military initially intervened in Mali in early 2013 as part of Operation Serval which successfully regained the northern half of the country from Islamist groups. Operation Barkhane is intended to act as a follow up to this success and has expanded the French military's operations over a vast area of the Sahel region. The operation has the stated aim of helping these countries' governments to maintain control of their territory while also preventing the region from becoming a safe haven for Islamist terrorist groups planning to attack France and Europe.
context_section_description: The French force was initially a 3,000-strong counter-terrorism force, with 1,000 soldiers deployed indefinitely in Mali. These soldiers were to be focused on counter-terrorism operations in northern Mali, with another 1,200 soldiers stationed in Chad, and the remaining soldiers split between a surveillance base in Niger, a bigger permanent base in Ivory Coast, and some special forces in Burkina Faso.
  According to original plans, the French forces were supplied with 20 helicopters, 200 armored vehicles, 10 transport aircraft, 6 fighter planes, and 3 drones. French Army Aviation currently have two Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma's in Chad.
  The division of labor between France and the G5 Sahel has been established by four permanent military bases: (1) headquarters and an air force base in the Chadian capital of N'Djamena (under the leadership of French Général Palasset); (2) a regional base in Gao, north Mali, with at least 1,000 men; (3) a special-forces base in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou; (4) an intelligence base in Niger's capital, Niamey, with over 300 men.
  The Niamey airbase is strategically important because it hosts drones in charge of gathering intelligence across the entire Sahel-Saharan region. From Niamey, France's troops are supported by two German Transall C-160. In 2020, France stated that it will deploy 600 soldiers in addition to the existing force to fight the Islamist militants in Africa's Sahel.
caption: The Sahel region
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