Aircraft attached to the France-led Operation Barkhane in the Sahel struck \u201cterrorists\u201d in Mali near the border with Niger killing nine, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The operation was launched on Wednesday, July 17 after a Malian soldier was killed and two others wounded in an ambush on their convoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The soldiers had been part of a \u201clogistical escort mission\u201d from the border post of Labb\u00e9zanga<\/a> to Gao and were ambushed between Fafa<\/a> and Bentia, a Armed Forces of Mali (FAMa) statement<\/a> said, adding that a provisional assessment from sweeps on the ground was that five \u201cterrorists\u201d had been killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Barkhane operations center was notified of an attack on a convoy of 10 vehicles between Asongo and the border near the village of Fafa at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the French Ministry release<\/a> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It said that the convoy was split in two during the attack, and FAMa reinforcements were dispatched from Asongo to the north and Labb\u00e9zanga to the south, and a drone was redirected to the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Wednesday release, the French military said<\/a> a light aircraft was also involved in intelligence-gathering during the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gunfight ended at 1 p.m. and the reinforcements reported the FAMa casualties, while motorcycles were seen leaving the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 1:50 p.m., the \u201cintelligence resources deployed made it possible to detect a suspicious individual on a motorcycle\u201d that led to a group of men, estimated to be around 15-strong, around 30 km (19 miles) southeast of the attack area. The men were \u201chidden under trees, probably with resources under cover, in accordance with the practices of terrorist groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The release said weapons were detected and an operation was launched to \u201cneutralize\u201d the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An airstrike was carried out at 4:50 p.m. in which two bombs were dropped on the \u201cassembly points.\u201d The aircraft was not specified, but French Mirage 2000 jets are frequently used in strike missions in the Sahel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tigre attack helicopters then moved in, firing their guns to fix the enemy, and then, 20 minutes after the initial strikes, a detachment of parachute commandos was deployed to control and search the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nine \u201cenemies\u201d were killed and two captured and a range of resources were discovered including weapons, motorcycles and communications equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The commandos were recovered from the area at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Barkhane force has been active in the Mali-Niger border region in recent weeks. In June, the 13-day Operation Aconit involved a joint Mali-France commando operation that killed 20 \u2018terrorists\u2019 in Mali\u2019s Menaka<\/a> area, and 18 Islamic State militants were killed by French and Nigerien troops<\/a> near Tongo Tongo<\/a>, around 120 km east of the Labb\u00e9zanga border crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2012 a Tuareg separatist uprising against the state was exploited by Islamist extremists linked to al-Qaeda who took key cities in the desert north of Mali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n France began its Operation Serval military intervention in its former colony early the next year, driving the jihadists from the towns, and the U.N. MINUSMA peacekeeping force was then established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the militant groups morphed into more nimble formations operating in rural areas, and the insurgency has gradually spread to central and southern regions of Mali and across the borders into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. Large swathes of Mali remain outside government control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The French mission evolved in August 2014 into the current 4,500-strong Operation Barkhane<\/a>, which has a mandate for counter-terrorism operations across the Sahel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three U.K. Royal Air Force Chinook heavy lift helicopters are based in Gao in eastern Mali<\/a>, and have supported Operation Barkhane since becoming operational last August. On July 8, outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said the British military deployment to the Sahel will be extended<\/a>, with the Ministry of Defence later confirming that the extension will be for at least six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the RAF Chinooks, 50 Estonian soldiers are deployed in Gao<\/a> in a force-protection capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February, the Danish government said that it plans to send two transport helicopters to support Operation Barkhane<\/a>. The government\u2019s plans must be approved by parliament, and the deployment would see around 70 soldiers deployed for a one-year period starting at the end of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Troops deployed to Barkhane work alongside other international operations, including the roughly 14,000-strong\u00a0MINUSMA<\/a>\u00a0mission in Mali, and the regional\u00a0G5 Sahel joint counter-terrorism force<\/a>\u00a0that aims to train and deploy up to 5,000 personnel from the five members \u2013 Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally published on The Defense Post<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aircraft attached to the France-led Operation Barkhane in the Sahel struck \u201cterrorists\u201d in Mali near the border with Niger killing nine, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said on Friday. The operation was launched on Wednesday, July 17 after a … Continue reading