Tojohasina Razafintsalama, soldier of the 1st regiment of hussars paratroopers in Tarbes, was killed Thursday morning in Mali, announced the Elysee.
A member of the French force Barkhane in the Sahel has been killed and two soldiers were wounded Thursday morning in Mali “during fighting against armed groups of terrorists”, announced the Elysée palace and the French army.
The soldier of the 1st regiment of hussars paratroopers in Tarbes Tojohasina Razafintsalama was killed when “his armoured vehicle jumped at the contact of a vehicle suicide explosives,” said the minister for the Armed forces Florence Parly in a press release.
During the explosion, two other soldiers constituting the crew of the light armored vehicle, which was on a reconnaissance mission, were also wounded and evacuated in serious condition to the military hospital in Gao before being repatriated in the evening, said the staff. The hanging took place in the region of Gossi, 150 km to the west of Gao.
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After the attack, “the unit to the contact immediately engaged the fight. At the same time, two Tiger helicopters, and a drone Reaper, have been deployed to support ground-based elements,” said the general staff of the armed forces.
The president and Emmanuel Macron “bows with deep respect before the sacrifice of the military, death in the accomplishment of its mission in the service of France”, indicated the Elysee. “It welcomes the commitment, the courage and determination of our military forces deployed in the Sahel and renews his full confidence for the success of their mission.”
Tojohasina Razafintsalama was born 20 October 1994 to Mahazarivo, Madagascar. This single person without children was involved with the 1st regiment of hussars paratroopers in Tarbes in 2018 and had been deployed in Mali on July 14.
His death bears to 43 the number of French soldiers who died in combat in the operations Serval (2013) and Barkhane (since 2014), according to the staff. It takes place after the one in the beginning of may, two legionaries of the French force Barkhane in the Sahel, which has some 5,000 soldiers. In November 2019, France had lost 13 soldiers in an accident between two helicopters in operation in Mali.
An enemy “on the back foot”
The current political crisis in Mali, of which a large part of the territory, in the throes of violence, the jihadists and/or the community almost every day, escapes the authority of the State, worried about his allies and neighbours, who fear that the country descended into chaos.
in recent months, the French army and those of the countries of the G5 Sahel have multiplied its attacks in the Sahel, in particular in the area called of the “three borders” between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. They have claimed the “neutralization” of several dozens of jihadists in total, including the emir of Al-Qaeda in the islamic Maghreb (Aqim), the Algerian Abdelmalek Droukdal, in June.
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“We have an enemy that is on the back foot, who is the besieged and who is weakened but it is never at the shelter. He is still able to strike blows. The fight continues,” said the colonel Frédéric Barbry, spokesman of the general staff. The leaders of the G5 Sahel, and Emmanuel Macron had reaffirmed their determination to continue the struggle at a summit in Nouakchott on 30 June, following the one organized at Pau in January.
