In total, this week, five soldiers were killed in the Sahel, after the death of three other soldiers last Monday in an attack claimed by a jihadist group.
Le Monde
Two French soldiers were killed, Saturday January 2, during an operation in Mali, announced the Elysee. “The President of the Republic learned with great sadness of the death in Mali at the end of the morning of two soldiers of the 2 th regiment of hussars of Haguenau, sergeant Yvonne Huynh and brigadier Loïc Risser”, details the statement.
“Their vehicle was the object of an improvised explosive device attack during an intelligence mission in the Menaka region. A third soldier was wounded during the this attack, whose days are not in danger. “
Their deaths bring to 49 the number of French soldiers killed in the Sahel since 2013 in the Serval and then Barkhane operations. France hired 600 additional troops in the Sahel in 2020, bringing its strength to around 5,100. It is currently examining the evolution of this engagement.
A second attack in a week
Three other French soldiers had already been killed last Monday in Mali, in the border area with Niger and Burkina Faso when their armored vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device while taking part in an escort mission. An attack claimed this Saturday morning by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims, affiliated with Al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, in a statement released by its Al-Zallaqa propaganda platform.
The GSIM, the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel, invokes the continuation of the French military presence in the sub-region, the caricatures of Mohammed and President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of their publication in the name of freedom of expression, as well as the French government’s policy towards Muslims in France.