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Terrorism: France to redeploy its troops in Africa

FILE - In this Feb.10, 2013 file photo, French soldiers secure the area where a suicide bomber attacked, at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali. Eighteen months after France sent troops to Mali for what was meant to be a targeted operation against extremists, they are still there. And instead of leaving, they’re about to expand their mission to fighting terrorism from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
FILE - In this Feb.10, 2013 file photo, French soldiers secure the area where a suicide bomber attacked, at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali. Eighteen months after France sent troops to Mali for what was meant to be a targeted operation against extremists, they are still there. And instead of leaving, they’re about to expand their mission to fighting terrorism from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) FILE - In this Feb.10, 2013 file photo, French soldiers secure the area where a suicide bomber attacked, at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali. Eighteen months after France sent troops to Mali for what was meant to be a targeted operation against extremists, they are still there. And instead of leaving, they’re about to expand their mission to fighting terrorism from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

By Associated Press 4 min read

PARIS (AP) – French troops are still in Mali a year and a half after they were sent there for a targeted operation against extremists. And instead of leaving, they’re about to expand their mission to fighting terrorism from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean.

That’s because the region’s terrorist problem hasn’t gone away: French troops merely dispersed Mali’s al-Qaida-linked militants, and their potential ties with Nigerian militant group Boko Haram are of increasing concern to the French government.

The redeployment of 3,000 French troops in five of its former colonies across northwest Africa is expected to become official in the coming days. Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived Wednesday in Mali, and President Francois Hollande is starting a three-day visit to Ivory Coast, Niger and Chad on Thursday.

Africans have mixed feelings about French soldiers setting up camp long-term. Some in Mali see it as a neo-colonial power grab, while others feel that the French are only extending the mission because they failed to finish the job they started in January 2013.

“A sovereign country should not accept the presence of foreign troops to assure its security. France took advantage of the weakness of our defense system to set itself up again in our country, after it was chased out in 1960 by the Malian people,” said Bassirou Guindo, a Bamako vendor.