The French-led Takuba task force of EU special forces has officially ceased operating in Mali, France announced Friday, ending a year-long anti-jihadist effort that soured after two military coups overthrew the civilian government.

Takuba, operating with France's Barkhane mission, was set up after President Emmanuel Macron sought more help from European allies for the anti-terror campaign in the Sahel.

French army spokesman General Pascal Ianni told journalists that Barkhane and Takuba had showed what "Europeans can accomplish together in complicated security environments", with on-the-ground experience that would be critical for future joint operations.

But "the reorganisation of the French military presence in the Sahel… led to the end of operations for Takuba in Mali as of June 30," he said.

Announced in late 2019, Takuba at its peak brought together nearly 900 elite troops from nine of France's allies — Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.

Alongside the Barkhane force that at one point reached 5,100 soldiers, Takuba aimed to train and reinforce local armies trying to counter bloody insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.

But despite tactical successes such as the killings of some top jihadist leaders, the governments of the so-called G5 Sahel nations — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — have struggled to curtail the attacks against both military and civilian targets.

In Mali in particular, military coups in August 2020 and May 2021 resulted in diplomatic tensions with France.

The deterioration accelerated when the ruling junta in Bamako developed closer ties with Moscow, bringing in military personnel that France says are mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group.

Macron in February announced a full pullout of both Barkhane and Takuba from Mali, but said French forces would remain in the Sahel in a new configuration.

Since then IS-linked jihadists, whose power was once thought to be waning in the Sahel, have expanded their reach while carrying out an unprecedented series of civilian massacres.

Mali remains supported by a United Nations peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, which has some 13,000 soldiers and nearly 2,000 police.

MINUSMA on Friday said one of its civilian workers, a Malian generator technician, was killed by unidentified armed men on Thursday.

The mission called the attack, which occurred in Menaka in northeast Mali, a "cowardly and barbaric act".

MINUSMA's mandate was renewed on Wednesday for a further year by the Security Council.

However, the force no longer has French air support, the offer of which was rejected by Mali.

US warns of jihadists and Russian forces as Africa war games end
Tan-Tan, Morocco (AFP) July 1, 2022 – The United States' top general for Africa has warned of "violent extremism" and the threat of Russian mercenaries in the Sahel region, speaking as war games wrapped up in Morocco.

"We are seeing the rise of violent extremism in Western Africa, predominantly in the Sahel region," said General Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The Sahel region is a vast territory stretching across the south of Africa's Sahara Desert, incorporating countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

"We are seeing the arrival of malign actors, and specifically I am thinking of Russian mercenaries from Wagner," Townsend told AFP in the North African nation on Thursday, at the conclusion of a four-week long "African Lion" international military exercise.

"This training is not specifically oriented on those problems, but it will help all of our armed forces if we are called to combat this kind of problem in the future," Townsend said.

Islamic State-linked jihadists, whose power was once thought to be waning in the Sahel, have recently expanded their reach and marking their presence with an unprecedented series of civilian massacres.

Mali has been especially hard hit, a former French colony where the strategic landscape has changed dramatically following two coups in August 2020 and May 2021.

Bamako developed closer ties with Moscow, bringing in military personnel that France says are mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group.

– Air, sea and land assault practice –

AFRICOM, which is based in the German city of Stuttgart, is responsible for US military operations across Africa.

More than 7,500 personnel from a dozen countries took part in the "African Lion" exercises, running from June 6 to 30, with operations in Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia.

As well as US troops and officers from the host nations, soldiers from Brazil, Britain, Chad, France, Italy and the Netherlands took part.

The Moroccan leg of the games were attended by military observers from NATO, the African Union and nearly 30 "partner countries", including for the first time Israel.

Exercises included land, airborne and maritime manoeuvres, preparation for nuclear biological and chemical decontamination, as well as providing medical and humanitarian aid.

On Thursday, at Cap Draa in the dusty deserts of southern Morocco some 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of Rabat, troops simulated a joint land and air attack against enemy columns in a live fire exercise.

Overhead, F-16 warplanes and Apache attack helicopters roared across the skies.

Through the sand, M1 Abrams tanks and AMX-10 RC wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicles ploughed across the dunes, accompanied by HIMARS multiple rocket launchers firing salvoes.

Plumes of smoke rose up high after live fire artillery barrages, with the dust whipped up by fierce winds from the Atlantic Ocean.

– 'To defend our common interest' –

But Townsend was keen to stress the operations were "hypothetical" war games, an "exercise scenario that is completely made up", and not targeting any nation.

The exercise comes amid heightened tensions between Rabat and Algiers over the disputed Western Sahara.

Former US president Donald Trump recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory in 2020 in return for Rabat re-establishing ties with Israel, and Algeria responded months later by breaking ties with Morocco.

Exercises took place close to the border with Western Sahara and Sahrawi refugee camps where the Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement is based.

Townsend said the exercise was "not focused on Algeria at all", but was about "increasing our skill as armies" to work together.

"What we are seeing played out in NATO and Ukraine today shows the value of strong allies and partners working together to defend our common interest," he added.

The conflict in Ukraine dominated the NATO summit in Madrid this week, where US President Joe Biden announced a boost of US military in Europe, including on its "southern flank" in Spain and Italy, across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.