France's Military Presence In Afghanistan: Supporting Peace And Stability

France was part of the coalition of countries that supported the United States in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. However, France's strategic priorities lay elsewhere, with missions in Kosovo, Lebanon, and various African countries taking precedence. As a result, France's military commitment in Afghanistan fluctuated over the years, with a more limited presence until 2008 and a more ambitious presence between 2008 and 2012. After 2012, France's presence in Afghanistan became more limited again, and by the end of 2012, French combat troops were withdrawn from the country. France continued to have a presence in Afghanistan, and during the evacuation efforts in 2021, French forces managed to fly around 3,000 people out of the country.

France's military involvement in Afghanistan

Overview

France was involved in the War in Afghanistan from late 2001 until fully withdrawing by 2014. They operated within two distinct frameworks: the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), carried out by NATO on a United Nations mandate, and "Operation Enduring Freedom", under US command, as part of the War on Terror.

Operations

French forces contributed to several national operations:

• Opération Pamir with the ISAF
• Opération Héraklès for naval and air components
• Opération Épidote for training the Afghan Army
• Opération Arès for special operations within "Operation Enduring Freedom"

Deployment Numbers

As of 1 November 2009, 4,000 French personnel were deployed in Afghanistan, including air support in the Indian Ocean. Furthermore, 150 gendarmes were deployed in late 2009. In December 2008, the French contingent in Afghanistan had grown to 1,600 men, with 4,000 more involved in the theatre of operations.

Costs

Operations in 2009 alone cost 450 million Euros, amounting to over half of the 870 million Euros devoted to military operations abroad.

Fatalities

A total of 86 servicemen were killed. The first French fatality occurred on 31 August 2004 when Corporal Murat Yagci died of his wounds. The heaviest losses for French forces since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing occurred in August 2008, when nine soldiers were killed and 21 wounded by guerrilla forces in the Uzbin Valley Ambush near Surobi.

Withdrawal

In June 2012, President François Hollande announced the withdrawal of French "combat troops" from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. France's combat troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan in November 2012, leaving only the logistical contingent in the country.

France's evacuation efforts from Afghanistan

French President Emmanuel Macron gave a televised address on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday, August 16, 2021, saying:

> Protecting those who helped France over the years is an “absolute urgency,” adding that two military transport planes, with special forces, were due to arrive in Kabul “in the coming hours.”

Macron also said that France would not abandon Afghans who worked for France and found themselves under threat from the Taliban. He added that the European Union would set up an initiative to prevent large migrant flows from the country into the EU.

France's ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain, informed that 21 Indian nationals were among the passengers on France's first evacuation flight out of Kabul. These included the "elite Gurkha troops" who were guarding the French embassy in the Afghan capital.

The French evacuation operations began on Sunday evening, August 15, 2021, and continued throughout the week. A second flight transporting over 200 people, including 25 French people and nationals of several countries, arrived at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport. The majority of those travelling on the flight were Afghans, including women and children.

The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Defence Minister, Florence Parly, said France's airlift had to be stopped on Friday, August 27, 2021, because "the security conditions were no longer being met at the airport" following a suicide bombing that killed 169 Afghan civilians and 13 US troops.

In total, France evacuated around 3,000 people from Afghanistan, including more than 2,500 French citizens and Afghans who had worked for or supported the French army, as well as artists and journalists.

France's relationship with the US in Afghanistan

Following the 9/11 attacks, France was quick to express its support for the United States. French politicians, including President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, declared their solidarity with the US and committed to supporting the fight against terrorism. However, Afghanistan was not a major strategic priority for France, and it struggled to balance its show of solidarity with other commitments, such as missions in Kosovo, Lebanon, and various African countries. This resulted in a fluctuating military commitment, with limited involvement until 2008 and a more ambitious approach between 2008 and 2012.

In 2012, France took responsibility for the Kapisa and Surobi districts, two strategically important regions near Kabul. This marked a shift in France's approach, as it sought to improve its relationship with the US. However, France's contribution was limited primarily to security operations, with the US taking the lead in governance and development efforts through provincial reconstruction teams.

The French campaign in Afghanistan was a significant driver of transformation within the French armed forces. They gained valuable experience in coalition warfare, adapted to battlefield dangers, and experimented with new organizational structures. Despite these contributions, the Afghanistan mission was never popular in France, and in 2012, President François Hollande declared victory and withdrew French "combat troops" from the country, a decision that was not well-received by NATO partners, including the US.

In 2021, France once again found itself working alongside the US during the chaotic evacuation efforts from Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover. French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised the importance of preventing Afghanistan from becoming a "sanctuary of terrorism" and pledged to protect French nationals and Afghans who worked with France. However, the evacuation efforts were challenging, and France, along with other US allies, had to end its evacuations due to security concerns and the imminent withdrawal of US troops.

The fall of Kabul and the Taliban's swift victory raised questions about the stability of the region and the future of the transatlantic alliance. US President Joe Biden's determination to withdraw from Afghanistan, coupled with the abandonment of local allies, created doubts among US allies about the reliability of American security guarantees. This dynamic has had broader implications for the distribution of loyalties in the game of alliances that the US is trying to implement against its new peer competitor, potentially impacting France's strategic calculations.

In summary, France's relationship with the US in Afghanistan has been characterised by a shared commitment to counterterrorism efforts and the desire to improve bilateral ties. However, France's fluctuating involvement, the evacuation crisis, and broader strategic considerations have also introduced complexities and diverging interests between the two countries.

France's counterinsurgency operations in the Sahel

Operation Barkhane was intended to follow up on the success of Operation Serval, which successfully regained the northern half of Mali from Islamist groups. The operation has the stated aim of helping the countries' governments maintain control of their territory and preventing the region from becoming a safe haven for Islamist terrorist groups that plan to attack France and Europe.

The operation was named after a crescent-shaped dune type that is common in the Sahara desert. The French military initially intervened in Mali in early 2013 as part of Operation Serval. Operation Barkhane expanded the French military's operations over a vast area of the Sahel region.

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.

The division of labour between France and the G5 Sahel has been established by four permanent military bases:

• Headquarters and an air force base in the Chadian capital of N'Djamena (under the leadership of French Général Palasset)
• A regional base in Gao, north Mali, with at least 1,000 men
• A special-forces base in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou
• 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.

In 2020, France stated that it would deploy 600 soldiers in addition to the existing force to fight Islamist militants in Africa's Sahel. The UK, Estonia, and Sweden also provided support to Operation Barkhane.

In February 2022, France and its European allies announced the beginning of the withdrawal of troops from Mali, blaming the military junta of Mali for obstructions in carrying out their military operations. France stated that the base of the operation would shift from Mali to Niger.

On 15 August 2022, French forces completed their withdrawal from Mali. The French military stated that 3,000 troops would remain in the Sahel region as part of Operation Barkhane and added that it was not ending, but being reformulated. However, on 9 November 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the end of Operation Barkhane.

France's fight against Islamic terrorism

France has been a key partner of the United States in the global fight against terrorism, with a strong bilateral counter-terrorism (CT) cooperation. The country has been a longstanding and important member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, providing financial support to GCERF. Additionally, France is a founding member of the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online.

France has also been actively involved in counter-terrorism operations in Iraq, Libya, Mali, Syria, and the Sahel region. The French government introduced a bill to counter "Islamist separatism" and enhance its ability to tackle manifestations of this movement in community associations, schools, religious organizations, and cyberspace. The country's law enforcement and intelligence agencies thwarted at least eight attacks in 2020 and arrested at least 16 individuals linked to violent extremist groups.

France's involvement in Afghanistan can be traced back to its quick expression of support to the United States following the 9/11 attacks. While the Afghanistan mission was never popular in France, the country participated in the war as a matter of solidarity with the United States. French troops were present in Afghanistan until 2012 when President François Hollande declared victory and withdrew French "combat troops" from the country.

In 2021, France was involved in the evacuation efforts from Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul. The country managed to evacuate around 3,000 people, including French citizens and Afghans who had worked with or supported the French army, before ending its evacuation operations due to security concerns.

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