France Defence Minister Florence Parly
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
France is on the offensive fighting back against an explosive UN report that concluded that a French military airstrike in January on the central Malian village of Bounty, hit a group largely made up of civilians, killing at least 19 of them. The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has concluded according to the MINUSMA report, investigators were able to confirm reports that a wedding celebration was hit by the French airstrike, and that some hundred civilians were present, as well as five armed insurgents, presumed to be members of the Katiba Serma militant group. The day after the attack, a MINUSMA fact-finding team, made up of 15 human rights officers, and supported by two UN forensics experts and two public information officers, was deployed to investigate the strike, and shed light on the allegations surrounding the deaths.
France Defense Minister Parly Defends French OPERATION BARKHANE Forces in MALI
French Defense Minister in Bamako Mali with Operation Barkhane Task Force Takuba (florenceparlytwitter.com) Mar. 31, 2021.
Opération Barkhane. Mali. Fière d’être aux côtés de nos militaires pour leur redire toute ma confiance et ma reconnaissance. Sur le terrain, nos forces s’engagent au quotidien pour la sécurité régionale et européenne. pic.twitter.com/fChrpyuUBV
— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) April 2, 2021
Meanwhile, French Defence Minister Florence Parly quickly got on a plane to fly to Mali this week to defend “the honor” of France’s soldiers deployed in the trouble Sahel region of Africa. Speaking on behalf of the French government, Parly rejected the UN report implicating French forces in the murder of unarmed civilians attending a wedding. French authorities have denied that anything they hit was a wedding party or that there was any collateral damage in such an operation. Parly vehemently denied any wrongdoing claiming that the January 3 military airstrike was legitimate and targeted an armed terrorist group which had been previously identified. Parly also questioned the UN report’s
methodology, claiming the investigation was based on unreliable sources.
“Opération Barkhane. Mali. Fière d’être aux côtés de nos militaires pour leur redire toute ma confiance et ma reconnaissance. Sur le terrain, nos forces s’engagent au quotidien pour la sécurité régionale et européenne.
“Full Operational Capability” (FOC) pour la Task Force Takuba. 3 mots qui officialisent le plein engagement des militaires européens contre le terrorisme au Sahel. 3 mots qui consacrent l’Europe de la défense. Satisfaction de voir ce projet montrer sa pleine puissance.
-France Defense Minister Florence Parly
Is It Time For France Army To Leave Africa Sahel Amid Rising Deaths?
credit: defense.gouv.fr) BCH Tanerii MAURI, 1 CL Quentin PAUCHET and 1 CL Dorian ISSAKHANIAN of the 1st Chasseurs regiment of Thierville-sur-Meuse were killed Dec. 28, 2020 in the region of Hombori, Mali.
About 50 French soldiers killed in the Africa Sahel operation since 2014 to help train and assist local forces against Islamic insurgents
Five French soldiers in France’s Operation Barkhane counter-terror military campaign in the Africa Sahel region were killed in between December 2020 and January 2021. France has been rethinking its military strategy in the violent Sahel and is considering reducing the number of troops deployed in Operation Barhkane. But maybe, France should pull its troops completely out of the Sahel. Operation Barkhane has failed to the deadly tide of terrorist attacks across the Sahel despite the presence of some 5,100 French soldiers there. On Dec. 28, 2020, three French soldiers were killed in operation in Mali when their armored vehicle was hit by an explosive device in the region of Hombori, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced. During a convoy escort mission, BCH Tanerii MAURI, 1 CL Quentin PAUCHET and 1 CL Dorian ISSAKHANIAN of the 1st Chasseurs regiment of Thierville-sur-Meuse died in the explosion in West Africa nation Mali. Then just five days later, two French soldiers were killed in operation around Ménaka in Mali when their light armored vehicle exploded on contact with an improvised explosive device, according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. A third soldier was injured.
French brigadier-chef Andy Fila died in north-central Africa Chad on July 31, 2020. / (Etat Major des Armées)
On Sep. 5, 2020, two French soldiers died after their armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in a military operation in Mali’s northeastern Kidal region.
On Jul. 31, 2020, a French Operation Barkhane soldier was killed in a maintenance operation in north-central Africa nation Chad after a piece of equipment exploded, the defense ministry said.
1st Class Parachute Hussar Tojohasina Razafintsalama, of the France 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment of Tarbes, died in action Jul. 23, 2020 in Mali. / Etat Major des Armées
On July, 23, 2020, Tojohasina Razafintsalama, a soldier of the French force Barkhane in the west Africa Sahel was killed in the region of Gossi, in the center of Mali, during fighting against armed terrorist groups, the Elysee said. Razafintsalama, 25-years-old, born in Mahazarivo, Madagasca, was killed when an improvised explosive device was triggered next to his armoured vehicle. During the explosion, two other soldiers present in the vehicle, which was on a reconnaissance mission, were also injured, then evacuated in serious condition to the military hospital in Gao before being repatriated in the evening.
Last November 2019, two helicopters collided, killing 13 French soldiers fighting Islamic State group-linked extremists in Mali, its highest military death toll in nearly four decades. French Foreign Legion units are part of France’s Operation Barkhane . Launched in 2014, the operation replaced Operation Serval (in Mali, 2013-14) and Operation Épervier (in Chad, 1986-2014). Five five countries are targeted by Operation Barkhane – Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso.
FRANCE OPERATION BARKHANE Deploys 5,100 Troops in SAHEL
Sources : EMA / Rights : France Ministère de la Défense
La stratégie sahélienne de la France vise à ce que les États partenaires acquièrent la capacité, d’assurer leur sécurité de façon autonome. Elle repose sur une approche globale (politique, sécuritaire et de développement) dont le volet militaire est porté par l’opération Barkhane, conduite par les armées françaises.
