Two French soldiers were killed on Saturday in Mali’s Menaka region when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, president Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement.
Sergeant Yvonne Huynh and Brigadier Loic Risser were killed while on “an intelligence mission” in the area, the statement said, adding that a third French soldier also suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Their deaths brought to 50 the number of French soldiers killed in Mali since France first intervened in 2013 to help drive back armed groups linked to al-Qaeda.
Last week, three French soldiers died after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Mali’s central Mopti province. The al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) claimed responsibility for that attack. It cited the French military presence in the region, cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by a French newspaper and Macron’s defence of them in the name of freedom of expression as reasons for the attack.
France has more than 5,000 troops spread across the Sahel region and has been fighting armed groups alongside soldiers from the G5 Sahel framework for coordination of regional cooperation, which was formed in 2014. Its members are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
France and G5 countries’ anti-terrorist forces are supported with intelligence and funding by the EU, the UK, and the US. However, as jihadist attacks on civilians and troops have increased, France called on other European nations to increase their action in the region.
Macron affirmed France’s determination to continue its role in “the battle against terrorism” after Saturday’s attack.