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WAR

Fourth French soldier killed in Mali operation

France said on Wednesday that a fourth French soldier had been killed during fighting against Islamist militants in Mali.

Fourth French soldier killed in Mali operation
Photo: AFP

The presidency said in a statement that the soldier, with the 68th African Artillery Regiment based in Valbonne, had died in combat early Wednesday in eastern Mali, about 100 km from the northern city of Gao.

President Francois Hollande paid homage in the statement to "the sacrifice of this soldier who carried out his mission to free Mali of terrorist groups with courage and devotion."

France has suffered relatively few casualties during its operations in Mali, launched in mid-January to back up Malian forces against Islamist rebels who seized control of the country's vast desert north last year.

On Saturday a paratrooper was killed during an operation to flush out militants from the Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali.

A legionnaire with the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment was killed amid heavy clashes on February 19th and a helicopter pilot died at the very start of the operation.

The French-led intervention quickly ousted the rebels from the north's main cities and fighting has intensified in recent days as efforts focus on hunting down the militants in mountainous areas.

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MILITARY

Denmark to deploy special forces to Mali in 2022

Denmark plans to deploy about 100 special forces to Mali early next year to boost the elite anti-jihadist European task force Takuba headed by France, the government announced Thursday.

Denmark to deploy special forces to Mali in 2022
A UN aircraft about to depart Denmark for Mali in 2019. File photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

“The terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda remainssignificant,” the foreign and defence ministries said in a joint statement.

“They want to create a hub in West Africa for their extremist regime… and we cannot allow that to happen,” they added.

The Danish contingent, which apart from the special forces will also include top level military officers and surgeons, will be deployed at the beginning of 2022, the ministries said.

Copenhagen also plans to send a military transport plane to assist the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

The French-led Takuba multinational force, launched in March 2020, has already seen Czech, Swedish and Estonian troops deployed in the region but France has struggled to obtain significant support from its larger EU partners.

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