The recent attacks on the artisanal bomb in the neighboring Benin had made nine dead, including a former French soldier.
Le Monde with AFP
The French soldiers of the operation “Barkhane” killed in Burkina Faso, forty jihadists involved in the recent attacks in northern neighboring Benin who had made nine dead, including a former French military, announced the state -Major, Saturday, February 12th.
These three attacks on the artisanal bomb had also been twelve wounded among the safety teams of the Natural Park W. The military force that fights jihadist groups, “alerted by its Beninese and Burkinabe partners”, “committed Aerial intelligence capabilities To locate this armed group “Responsible for attacks before, on Thursday, aerial strikes in which forty jihadists were killed, details a statement.
“On the morning of February 10, after locating and identifying a first column of terrorists moving to motorcycle, in agreement and in permanent coordination with the Burkinabe authorities, a first air shot was carried out by a reaper drone while The column had just penetrated the Burkinabé territory “and” a dozen terrorists were neutralized, “according to the staff.
“The commitment of a Mirage 2000 hunter patrol has made it possible to make three new strikes targeting terrorist clusters near the place of the first typos”, during which “more than thirty terrorists have been neutralized, a pickup and more than a dozen motorcycles were destroyed “.
Towards the end of the” Barkhane “operation in Mali?
Until recently, Benin was considered a island of stability in West Africa, which operates many jihadist groups related to Al-Qaida and the Islamic State Organization (EI). But a recent series of border raids in the countries located in the south of the Sahel confirmed the fears that jihadist groups breaks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso seek to progress towards the coast.
France, who has been fighting the Jihadist groups in Sahel for nine years, could well announce in the coming days the withdrawal of his troops from Mali, while the junta in power in Bamako testifies to a growing hostility with regard to of the French presence.
Paris nevertheless retains the firm intention to continue to combat the spread of jihadism in the region. The French staff wants to strengthen its cooperation activities and provide fundamental capacity to local staffs, according to concordant sources.
The priority of France remains to “continue the fight against terrorism” alongside African countries, emphasized the chief of staff of the French armies, General Thierry Burkhard, Tuesday, during a visit. Ivory Coast.