France's Bastille Day parade returns with Sahel forces in top billing

European special forces involved in anti-jihadist operations in west Africa's Sahel region were given prime position in the traditional Bastille Day celebrations on 14 July, in a sign of President Emmanuel Macron's military priorities.

Soldiers from the European Task force Takuba walk down the Champs-Elysees avenue during this year's Bastille Day parade. AP - Michel Euler

The traditional parade on France's national day returned to the Champs-Elysees after a one-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Around 80 French and European special forces drawn from the multinational Takuba force in the Sahel led the procession, a choice intended to send a diplomatic message from Paris.

Emmanuel Macron presided over the ceremony. Last month he announced a drawdown of French troops in the Sahel region and is banking on his often reluctant European partners to send more troops to replace them.

Paris wants Takuba - which numbers only 600 troops currently, half of them French - to take over more responsibilities from the 5,100 soldiers in France's Barkhane operation, who have been battling Islamist groups in Western Africa alongside local soldiers for eight years. 

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The parade under grey skies and light rain was a scaled-down version of the usual event, with only 10,000 people in the stands instead of 25,000.

The 14 July public holiday commemorates the storming o the Bastille prison in Paris in 1789, which led to years of revolution in France.

This year's event could be the last for 43-year-old Macron, who will finish a five-year term in April next year.

He is expected to seek re-election.

Francois Lecointre (R) is stepping down as chief of staff earlier than expected. REUTERS - POOL

It will be the last for outgoing defence chief-of-staff François Lecointre, who looked emotional as he greeted Macron before reviewing the troops.

"There's a continual decline of order in the world," he told Le Monde newspaper on Saturday, referring to actions by Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as terror groups such as Islamic State in the Middle East and in Africa. 

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 Alongside the traditional pageantry, fireworks displays and celebrations of Bastille Day, the southern Riviera town of Nice will mark the fifth anniversary of a terror attack that cost the lives of 86 people.

Prime Minister Jean Castex will visit the city for a ceremony at the site of a memorial for the victims, who were killed by a Tunisian man who drove a truck into crowds watching a firework display.

City authorities have organised a concert and 86 beams of light will illuminate the Mediterranean waterfront to honour the dead at 10:34 pm, the time of the start of the truck rampage.

(with AFP)