 Lafrance's release was drawing its troops from Mali after a breakdown in relations with the country's ruling junta. These developments ended a near ten-year deployment against jihadist groups that posed a growing threat in West Africa. Lafrance said soldiers to its former colony in 2013 to beat back advanced and Islamic extremists, but its initial battlefield success was followed by a grinding anti-insurgency operation and rioting hostility for Malians. More in this report. France and its allies fighting Islamist militants in Mali said on Thursday they would begin their military withdrawal from the country. French President Emmanuel Macron insisted the pullback to not constitute a failure of its nine-year mission. France intervened in Mali, first to fight terrorism and secondly, through the request of the sovereign state and states in the region. It's this second condition that changes today. The victory over terrorism is not possible if it is not promoted by the state itself. Why are we deciding to leave today? Because the junta in power in Mali does not have this as a priority anymore. The move has raised concerns of an emboldened insurgency across the Sahel region. President Macron said neighbouring Niger had agreed to house European forces fighting Islamists. He added that the withdrawal from Mali would take four to six months. France has had troops in Mali since 2013, when it intervened to drive back Islamist militants advancing on the capital. The Islamists have since regrouped and are waging an increasingly bloody insurgency across the region. Relations between Paris and Bamako have deteriorated since the ruling military junta went back on an agreement to organise an election in February and proposed holding power until 2025. It has also deployed Russian private military contractors, which some European countries have said is incompatible with their mission. The key question still to be answered will be the futures of 14,000 strong UN peacekeeping and EU missions. EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell said the bloc would reach out to Bamako to discuss the future of its training missions. The answer will come in the next days. Successive coup in Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso, all ex-French colonies have weakened France's West African alliances. Diplomats warn that spiraling violence could give fresh impetus to migration from West Africa. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.