France pays official honours to soldier killed in Mali
French soldier Maxime Blasco, 34, previously decorated for bravery in action during France's military intervention against jihadist forces in the Sahel region of Africa, and who died in combat in Mali last Friday, was posthumously awarded the Légion d'honneur and promoted to the rank of sergeant in a ceremony in Paris led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
PresidentPresident Emmanuel Macron led a solemn tribute on Wednesday to French soldier Maxime Blasco, who was killed in action battling Islamist insurgents in Mali, reports FRANCE 24.
Blasco, who had recently been decorated for his bravery, was part of a French unit deployed to a forested area near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso. He is the 52nd French soldier to have died in the Sahel region since Paris deployed a counterterrorism force in 2013 to drive back Islamist militant groups that had seized cities and towns in northern Mali.
French forces earlier this month said they had killed the leader of the West African affiliate of Islamic State in a drone strike in northern Mali.
Wednesday's national tribute at the Invalides in Paris comes a day after French lawmakers held a minute of silence to honour the fallen soldier.
