"More than 40 percent of Barkhane’s air strikes are now conducted by drones." @RikeFranke . https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/comments/2021C05_OperationBarkhane.pdf

"The post-Pau year has not fundamentally changed the political and security context, but it has given some reprieve to the armies of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso after a disastrous 2019, during which they suffered possibly more than a thousand casualties..."

This really is great stuff from @denis_tull : "...the [French] government is unwilling to sustain a large, costly, and open-ended presence in the Sahel that is unable to catalyze strategic and political progress."

"At least in military terms, France may have achieved the best possible out-come. The visible successes of 2020 may provide an opportunity to start disengaging with the head held high."

"Barkhane presents significant financial costs (€695 million in 2019, and closer to €1 billion in 2020), which equals 76 percent of the country’s expenditure for its military missions and operations at home and abroad."