the army staff admits for the first time having killed a woman in operation

For the first time since the start of France’s engagement in the Sahel, in 2014, as part of Operation “Barkhane”, the army staff admitted, Tuesday, October 19, to having killed a woman during of an operation. According to the first elements communicated by the General Staff, the facts took place Monday, October 18, near the RN 16, east of Gossi, south of the town of Gao, where one of its last active bases of France on Malian territory. It was a reconnaissance operation on foot, led by French troops and a Malian unit.

The story delivered by the staff is as follows. During this mission, two individuals on motorcycles were detected. At the sight of the French and Malian soldiers, they abandoned the machine and repositioned themselves in a wood. An assault rifle, ammunition and a military bag were found near the motorcycle. The soldiers then set off in pursuit of one of the two individuals. Four warning shots were fired to stop him, but he would have moved further away.

Read also the tribune: Article reserved for our subscribers “Will Mali be the next Afghanistan? ”

“On the approach of an overdraft, the French soldiers resume visual contact with one of the two individuals who stopped about 200 meters from their position. The individual turns sharply towards the soldiers, who apply neutralization fire. The soldiers join the position of the neutralized individual. They discover that it is a woman “, detailed the staff of the armies in its press release.

However, according to additional details obtained by The world, no weapon was found near the victim’s body. From a distance, his outfit would have been confusing, because it was a tunic that can be worn by men. The French soldiers would have also believed they were dealing with a man. Residents of the nearest village were called to identify this person, but none knew him. The decision was therefore taken to bury him, in accordance with customary rules, “ so as not to abandon the body “, according to the army staff.

A legal “non-international armed conflict”

The commander of the “Barkhane” force opened a command investigation to clarify the exact sequence of events and “Have a complete light on this combat action”. During their operations, the soldiers of “Barkhane” may be called upon to observe living women and children. ” near ” armed terrorist groups, notes a source familiar with the matter. However, until now, they had never encountered a woman in such close-knit clashes in the Sahel.

You have 60.53% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.

source site