Operation Barkhane rebellion against the central Malian government was exploited by Islamist groups who gained control over the northern half of the country. In response, France launched a military operation in January 2013 to stop the Islamist offensive from toppling the Malian government and to re-capture Northern Mali. The operation, codenamed Operation Serval, ended in the complete re-capture of all Islamist held territory by the operations conclusion on the 15 July 2014. Following the end of Operation Serval, France recognised the need to provide stability in the wider Sahel region by helping the region's various governments combat terrorism. The French defense minister,
Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War whom were now Spaniards, at the last meeting of the League of Nations, thereby showing his contempt for the Non-Intervention Committee. Similarly, Italians would leave Spain under the Anglo-Italian agreement, not through the Committee. Britain and France recognised the Nationalist government on 27 February 1939. Clement Attlee criticised the way it had been agreed, calling it 'a gross betrayal... two and a half years of hypocritical pretence of non-intervention'. Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War During the Spanish Civil War, several countries followed a principle of non-intervention, to avoid any potential escalation and possible expansion of the war to other