Grenade event in Gao, Gao area, Mali on Sat 22nd January 2022

Paris — A French soldier has been killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a military camp in Mali. French President Emmanuel Macron offered his condolences to the family of Brigadier Alexandre Martin, according to a statement from the Elysee Palace on Sunday. The attack on the camp of the French operation Barkhane in the city of Gao had occurred on Saturday afternoon. According to the French army’s general staff, the soldier suffered serious injuries, to which he eventually succumbed despite emergency medical care. A helicopter patrol was ordered to “neutralize” the terrorists responsible for the attack. The former colonial power France is massively active in West Africa against Islamist militias, with Mali a focal point. The current French operation Barkhane includes up to 5,100 soldiers. With a realignment of its presence in the region and the end of Barkhane, France wants to reduce its troop strength to between 2,500 and 3,000 in the long term. Germany’s Bundeswehr has also stationed several hundred soldiers in Mali. Several armed groups are active in the states of the Sahel – an area that stretches south of the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Some have sworn allegiance to the terrorist groups Islamic State or al-Qaeda.