[24] The French military initially intervened in Mali in early 2013 as part of Operation Serval, which successfully regained the northern half of the country from Islamist groups.

The operation had the stated aim of helping the countries' governments to 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.

In response, France launched a military operation in January 2013 to stop the Islamist offensive from toppling the Malian government and to re-capture northern Mali.

The former French Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that France recognised that "there still is a major risk that jihadists develop in the area that runs from the Horn of Africa to Guinea-Bissau."

[23] According to French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the main objective of Operation Barkhane is counter-terrorism:[22] "The aim is to prevent what I call the highway of all forms of traffics to become a place of permanent passage, where jihadist groups between Libya and the Atlantic Ocean can rebuild themselves, which would lead to serious consequences for our security.

[7] In July 2018, three RAF Chinook helicopters arrived in Mali to provide logistical and troop movement support to French and other military forces operating in the area.

[42] On 22 March 2018, the Ministry of Defence of Estonia announced its intention to commit up to 50 troops and 5 Pasi XA-188 armoured vehicles to Mali as part of Operation Barkhane, to be based in Gao, pending approval by the Riigikogu.

[43][44] The unit, named ESTPLA-26 and headed by Maj. Kristjan Karist, was detached from the C Infantry Company of the Scouts Battalion on 6 August, and arrived in Mali that same week to be stationed at the French military base in Gao.

[53] On 26 November 2015, a French Air Parachute Commando died in hospital in France as a result of his injuries after being hit by an anti-tank mine on 13 October near Tessalit during a reconnaissance mission.

[54] French soldiers based in Mali as part of the Army Special Forces Command were rapidly deployed to Burkina Faso on 15 January 2016 after jihadists launched a terrorist attack on Ouagadougou which killed 30 people.

[63] On 4 October 2017, French forces operating as part of Barkhane were the first to respond to the ambush of American soldiers searching for an Islamic State commander on the Niger-Mali border.

[69] Two French soldiers from the 1st Spahi Regiment were killed and the Colonel-in-chief was wounded on 21 February when the armoured vehicle they were travelling in struck a mine between the towns of Gao and Ménaka.

[73] On 22 February 2019, French forces backed by an armed reaper drone and a helicopter attacked a JNIM convoy killing 11 militants including senior leader Yahia Abou el Hamman in the Tombouctou Region of Mali.

[88] On 3 June, French forces achieved one of their most significant successes of Operation Barkhane with the killing of Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

French and American intelligence sources had identified Droukdel's presence in a group crossing the Algerian-Malian border approximately 80 kilometres east of the town of Tessalit.

[89] A French soldier from the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (1er RHP) was killed during combat operations in Mali on 23 July 2020 when an improvised explosive device was triggered next to his armoured vehicle.

On 10 November 2020, Ba Ag Moussa, Emir of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, along with 4 other militants were killed in an attack carried out by French Special forces.

[95] After locating a suspicious encampment near Niaki, 180 kilometers east of Mopti, four Mirage 2000 fighter jets took off from the Niamey airbase in Niger, as reported by the French military headquarters.

[99] A French military convoy consisting of the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs (1er RCh) was struck by two IED blasts in quick succession on 28 December 2020 during an operation in the Hombori region in central Mali, resulting in the death of three soldiers.

[104] French forces carried out a controversial airstrike during the course of operation Éclipse which locals claimed targeted a wedding ceremony in the village of Bounti, in the central Mopti region, on 3 January.

[28] On 15 September, Macron announced that Barkhane forces had killed Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

[114] The assassination was conducted on 17 August using a drone in the Dangalous Forest of Mali near the border with Niger, according to the Chief of the Defence Staff Thierry Burkhard, after gathering information on locations where al-Sahrawi was likely to hide from captured IS-GS members.

[117] On 11 February, the French Army anncounced that it killed 40 militants in airstrikes on a motorcycle column in the W National Park area in cooperation with the Burkinabe forces on the previous day.

[119] The French military stated on 7 March 2022 that its forces had killed al-Qaeda commander Yahia Djouadi, alias "Abu Ammar al-Jazairi", overnight between 25 and 26 February.

[124] Since the launch of Operation Barkhane in August 2014, the French Ministère des Armées listed 38 servicemen were reported killed in Mali, 2 in Burkina Faso and one in Chad.

[127] In late 2015, French army representatives indicated that over 150 ammunition and explosive depositories had been discovered and 25 vehicles and 80 electronic devices (GPS, computers, satellite phones and radio stations) had been destroyed.

This represented 20 tons of ammunition, including 2,000 shells, 680 grenades, guided missiles, 25 IEDs and mines, 210 detonators, 30 mortars, machine guns and rocket launchers.

[134] In June 2019, a former Malian minister anonymously declared to French newspaper Libération that anti-French sentiment was at its peak in Mali: "Conspiracy theories are flourishing everywhere.

[137] On August 7, 2023, 94 French senators sent an open letter to President Emmanuel Macron in which they regretted "the failure of Operation Barkhane" and "the erasure of France" in Africa.

[138] Much of the criticism of the French intervention revolves around the concept of Françafrique, a pejorative term used to describe the alleged neocolonial practices of France in its former African colonies.