French Soldier Killed in Mali, Hollande Says Operation in “Last Phase”

Clashes between French Forces and al-Qaeda linked militants in Mali claimed life of a French soldier, Paris said on Tuesday.

A Defense Ministry statement announced the death of the soldier, as it said the ongoing fight in the former French colony killed nearly 20 militants.

The death of the French Foreign Legionnaire brings to two the number of French killed since France launched a military intervention on January 11 to push out militants.
A helicopter pilot was killed on the first day of the intervention.

For his part, President Francois Hollande said the operation in a mountainous region where extremists are holed up is in its ”last phase.”

”At this moment we have special forces who are in the north of Mali and who are intervening in a zone that is particularly delicate, which is the Ifoghas mountain range, where terror groups are holed up,” he said during a visit to Greece.

”There was a serious clash with several deaths on the side of the terrorists, but also a death on the French side,” Hollande said, adding that the soldier killed came from a Legionnaire parachute regiment.