Last year, France withdrew its troops from Mali. This marked the end of a nine-year military operation, aimed at resolving the internal conflict and liberating Mali's territory from Al-Qaeda terrorists. However, according to locals, the French left without providing any tangible assistance, causing further destruction and numerous deaths among the civilian population. ‘Operation Barkhane was launched as part of a French plot to partition Mali’, believes political activist Aboubacar Sidick Fomba. Today, Malians are ready to fight against the dark legacy of colonisation. Will they succeed?