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, reports RFI.
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.