Dozens of people demonstrated in Gao, the northern city of Mali, on Sunday to push for an acceleration of the departure of the French Barkhane force, organizers of the demonstration and local officials told AFP.

The protesters, who presented themselves as the forces vives, gave France's Barkhane forces a 72-hour ultimatum to leave the city indefinitely. Gao is home to the last French soldiers in Mali who will be leaving for Niger.

Pictures received by AFP showed demonstrators waving placards with the phrases "Barkhane Arhali", "Barkhane, the godfather of terrorist groups and their ally", and "No foreign power can make Mali a spoil." These messages are being circulated, especially in strong anti-French circles and on social media.

“Considering the strong involvement of French forces in the terrorist attacks in the region of the three borders, in particular in the last ones in Tessit, in the circle of Ansongo, having caused 42 Malian soldiers to be killed, we, Forces vives de la Ville de Gao, bowing to the memory of all civilian and military victims of this situation of generalized insecurity, have decided to organize a series of demonstrations against the presence of the French forces of Barkhane in the towns of Gao and Ansongo”, declared Abdoul Karim Samba, spokesperson for the Forces vives de Gao.

🛑#Mali#Manifestation_Gao : pour exiger le #départ de la ville de la #Force_Barkhane dans un délai de 72 heures.

Quelques photos, les mots sont #forts : #Barkhane est une force #terroriste, il doit #dégager …..#Nous_sommes_le_Mali 💪🏿@GoitaAssimi
Crédits photo : GAO 24/24 pic.twitter.com/84dmeH9vjs

— Cheick Tidiane Diarra (@CheickIbtidiani) August 14, 2022

On the other hand, Paris regularly denounces "massive disinformation" campaigns against its forces despite numerous accusations of crime and misconduct by Malians against them.

Relations between the ruling military junta in Bamako and Paris, the former colonial power, have deteriorated sharply in recent months. Most especially, since the arrival of the paramilitary forces from the Russian Wagner group to Mali, which pushed the two countries into a rupture after 9 years of continuous French presence waging "war on terrorism."

In the Background

Paris, throughout approximately 10 years of its military presence in Mali, failed to achieve any tangible achievements in terms of the country's security, political instability, and economic issues, sparking popular waves of resentment toward France, leading to two coups in the country, the last of which took place in May 2021.

The junta in Mali decided to withdraw all defense treaties with France, citing "flagrant abuses" of national sovereignty. 

Paris no longer possesses the legal basis for carrying out military operations in Mali after the West African nation withdrew from defense agreements with France, the Malian government said. 

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