French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will reduce the size of its military mission in the West Africa region of the Sahel where it has been engaged since 2013 in operations against jihadist groups.
French freelance journalist Olivier Dubois, who disappeared in the northern Mali town of Gao on April 8th, appeared in a video on Wednesday appealing for the authorities to secure his release from captivity at the hands of an al-Qaida-linked jihadist group.
Swedish parliament approved the deployment of up to 150 soldiers to the so-called Takuba task force in June last year, with reinforcements of up to 100 others.
Around a quarter of the world's gold production is in Africa and extraction of the precious metal has been been stepped up as its price on world markets has increased. But a significant proportion of this mining is carried out illegally by small-scale miners and much of the gold then finds its way into the hands of criminal and armed groups across the continent before being sold in the Middle East. Fanny Pigeaud reports on attempts to clean up the sector through stronger regulations.
The explosion came just days after three others died in similar fashion and their deaths bring to 50 the number of French soldiers killed in the West African nation since France first intervened in 2013.
Three French soldiers from the 1st Chasseur regiment were killed on Monday in Mali in the explosion of an improvised device beside their armoured vehicle, bringing the total number of dead among French military personnel since the beginning of anti-jihadist operations in Mali and the Sahel region of west Africa in 2013 to 47.
The French military has banned soldiers from posting sensitive information online. However, via a number of different apps Mediapart has managed to discover the profiles of more than 800 French troops deployed abroad and the profiles of more than 200 special forces soldiers. The military's general staff meanwhile is reluctant to discuss the precise measures that have been taken to contain a problem that could put the security of military personnel and their operations at risk, especially from terrorists who target French troops abroad. Justine Brabant and Sébastien Bourdon report.
France’s Barkhane force 'neutralised' Bah ag Moussa on Tuesday in an operation involving ground troops and helicopters, defence minister Parly said in a statement on Friday.
'If you accept what is happening, it will not go too badly. If you resist, you will hurt yourself,' Sophie Pétronin said after nearly four years in captivity.
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