Senegal is far from its colonial past and has continued its trend of cleaning West and Central Africa since 2022.
France and Senegal have set conditions for the withdrawal of all French soldiers stationed in the West African country by the end of this year.
In a statement on Wednesday, the two countries established a joint committee to oversee the “department of French elements” from the country, saying, ” [military] Base by the end of the year.”
The two countries’ foreign ministries said they intend to tackle a “new defense and security partnership” that takes into account “strategic priorities of all parties.”
In November, Senegale President Basilou Diomae Fey announced that French military bases were “incompatible” with the country’s sovereignty, and that 350 soldiers should leave.
The move came just before Senegal celebrated the 80th anniversary of the 1944 mass murder of West African soldiers by colonial forces.
Soldiers from Tilayle Senegalley troops who fought in the French war with Nazi Germany were protesting against delays in pay and poor living conditions when colonial soldiers fired them.
![Cheerloy Massacre](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2024-12-01T151417Z_2075407701_RC2CGBADXWEI_RTRMADP_3_SENEGAL-FRANCE-1739392365.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C506)
French President Emmanuel Macron admitted in a letter to Faye that France committed a “genocide” last year.
Senegal’s colonial past rejection continues its trend across West Africa and Central Africa, where the country has downgraded its ties with France.
At the end of January, France completed the withdrawal of troops from Chad, but the Ivory Coast previously announced the withdrawal of French forces.
This tone was very different from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. That military government collectively discharged around 4,300 French soldiers in 2022. In all three countries, France refused to support a coup that would take them into power.
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