Paris

France is understood to be considering to exit Mali, the country in which it sent troops to prevent jihadists from taking over. It faces tough choices over how to keep pursuing Islamist extremists without becoming bogged down in a potentially unwinnable war.

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In past 10 days, five French soldiers have been killed in roadside bombs. This brought to 50 the number of troops killed across the Sahel since France launched a campaign to clear northern Mali of jihadists in January 2013

Latest victims included Sergeant Yvonne Huynh, the first female soldier killed since the French intervention began.

Her death Saturday, claimed by a group linked to al-Qaeda, coincided with a massacre across the border in western Niger, where unidentified gunmen killed around 100 villagers in one of the region's worst atrocities.

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Shifting public mood

In the past year, the French have killed the leader of the notorious al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group, Abdelmalek Droukdel, as well as one of the military leaders of the al-Qaeda affiliated Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

Anxious to avoid becoming mired in a long Afghan-style conflict, Paris is preparing to announce a withdrawal of the 600 additional troops it deployed to the Sahel last year.

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Defence sources have told AFP that President Emmanuel Macron would like to go further in reducing the number of French troops in the Sahel region before the next presidential election in April/May 2022.

"Up until now the French have not really questioned France's role in the Sahel. But you have to be very careful. Public opinion can change very quickly," a government source told AFP.

Buying time

In a sign that the Sahel mission could become a domestic political football, some opposition politicians have already begun to question the wisdom of staying the course.

"War in Mali: for how much longer?" the hard-left France Unbowed party queried on Monday.

"The more we help Mali the more it collapses," said Marc-Antoine Perouse de Montclos of France's Institute of Development Research (IRD).

(With AFP inputs)