PARIS, Jan 23 (Reuters) – A French soldier was killed in Gao, Mali, during a mortar attack on the Barkhane military camp on Saturday afternoon, the Elysee Palace announced in a press release.
The President of the Republic, in a press release published on Sunday, “respectfully salutes” the memory of the soldier, Brigadier Alexandre Martin, who was part of the 54th artillery regiment of Hyères.
Emmanuel Macron also salutes “the courage of the soldiers engaged in the Sahel and expresses his total confidence in them”.
“It confirms France’s determination to continue the fight against terrorism in the region, alongside its partners”, according to the press release from the Elysée.
France and its European allies, who have been working for years to secure Mali, have recently expressed their concern over recent developments in the country, where mercenaries from the private Russian group Wagner have arrived while the authorities in place since the coup d’etat of 2020 postponed the holding of elections, originally scheduled for next month, citing the violence of the Islamist insurgency.
(Report Benjamin Mallet)