Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, a government spokesman for Mali, now dominated by soldiers who came to power in 2020 after the coup, said the government had “taken note of the final withdrawal” of the French army from the country.

And he emphasized in a statement that was the first official reaction of Bamako days after the announcement of the departure of the last French soldier in the Barkhane detachment from the country, that “the situation in the country will improve after French left,” noting that the government “assures the people of Mali that through the strong rise of the valiant financial military, additional successes will be achieved in the face of terrorist groups, and the security of the population will be greatly improved.”

The spokesman emphasized that “the deteriorating security situation in Mali and the Sahel region is a direct result of the intervention of France and its allies in Libya,” referring to the regional implications of international intervention in 2011.

The French withdrawal from Mali after a nine-year anti-military intervention is a continuation of the deterioration of relations between Paris and Bamako, as the military came to power. Notably, in May last year, leaders of the ruling military junta in Bamako canceled defense agreements with Paris and its European partners after they hindered the work of Barkhane’s forces for months.