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France will not turn its back on the fight against terrorism after thirteen French soldiers were killed during a combat operation in Mali, Defence Minister Florence Parly said yesterday.
“We receive valuable support from our European allies and join forces to protect Europe from the scourge of terrorism”, Parly told a press conference. “We stand tall, united, resilient. It is this solidarity which strengthens us, which allows us to continue the fight,” the minister added.
The French soldiers were killed as they swooped in at nightfall to support ground forces engaged in combat with Islamist militants. It was the biggest loss of French troops in a single day since an attack in Beirut 36 years ago when 58 soldiers died.
The ground commandos had been tracking the band of militants through harsh terrain for several days before making contact on Monday. As night fell, an intense gun-fight erupted and aerial reinforcements were called in to pursue the militant fighters.
The collision between a Tiger attack helicopter and a Cougar multipurpose helicopter occurred shortly after darkness had descended over the barren region where Islamic State is active, Armies Chief of Staff General Francois Lecointre told a joint news conference with the armed forces minister.
Two explosions were heard and the aircraft hit the ground a short distance apart. There were no survivors. Monday’s deaths bring the number of French soldiers killed in combat in the Sahel region since 2013 to 38, officials said.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep sadness” at the loss as his government said it would not back down in its fight against terrorism. France, the former colonial power in the region, first intervened in Mali in 2013 to drive out militants who had occupied the north. It still has a 4,500-strong Barkhane force countering insurgencies in the wider region.
Rather than stabilizing, security has progressively worsened in the West African Sahel, an arid region which lies just below the Sahara desert. Islamist militants with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State have strengthened their foothold, making large swathes of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence, especially in Mali and Burkina Faso. In a message of condolence to Macron, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said the French soldiers “died for Mali, they died for the Sahel, they died for freedom”. At the headquarters of the 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment near Pau in southwestern France, the mood was sombre as colleagues came to terms with the loss of seven comrades.
One soldier carried white lilies through the main gate.
