Giant cranes are dismantling prefab tents at a French military base in the Malian capital of Bamako.

More than a year after it was launched to oust Islamist militants from northern Mali, Operation Serval is packing up.
In a month's time, everything will be gone – including the French forces who have been based here since January 2013.
But the French army isn't leaving Mali altogether. In a massive reorganisation – or what critics call a case of “mission creep” – French forces are being redeployed across the Sahel, the inhospitable buffer zone between the Sahara and the African Savanna, which includes the border regions of Mauritania, Mali, Chad and Niger.
Operation Serval is giving way to Operation Barkhane. Named after a crescent-shaped sand dune, Operation Barkhane comprises a 3,000-strong French force spread across five countries in the most wide-ranging French military deployment since World War II.
In partnership with Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, the mission aims to fight the jihadist threat in one of the world’s most dangerous zones.
Operation Serval may have succeeded in wresting control of northern Mali, but the new, expanded military mission in the Sahel faces new challenges.
''The enemy is much more discreet than before. He used to confront us face-to-face. Now he's more diffuse. In other words, the enemy has changed his strategy. He has become much more mobile: small groups, using one or two pick-up trucks, or motorbikes. This makes our mission even more difficult,'' explained Commandant Attaher Maiga, head of the 33rd paratroopers regiment in the Malian army.
Operation Barkhane relies on regional militaries – including newly EU-trained Malian militar... Go on reading on our web site.
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