MOSCOW (Sputnik) – France plans to close its permanent military bases in Senegal, as well as in other countries in West and Central Africa, by the summer of 2025, Senegalese news agency reported on Friday, citing a French military source.
«Today we are in a phase of dialogue for the implementation of the withdrawal of French forces from Senegal. What I can say is that there will no longer be a permanent French military base in Senegal in the summer of 2025,» the source said, as quoted by APS.
In late December, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye confirmed that the country intends to get rid of the foreign military presence as early as 2025.
In 2022, the French military, which had been present in Africa’s Sahel region since 2014 as part of the anti-terrorism Operation Barkhane, was forced to leave Mali. In 2023, France also withdrew its troops from Burkina Faso and Niger at the request of the countries’ authorities. In late November 2024, the Chadian Foreign Ministry announced the termination of defense cooperation with France, and France already started the withdrawal of its troops from Chad.
