France honours soldiers killed in Mali

PARIS: Hundreds of people gathered in Paris on Monday to honour 13 soldiers killed while battling extremist insurgents in Mali, ahead of a national ceremony to mourn a disaster that has prompted soul-searching over the costs of the six-year campaign in West Africa.

Sporadic applause punctuated sombre silence as a motorcade bearing the coffins crossed the Alexandre III bridge toward the Invalides military hospital and museum.

The soldiers died when two helicopters collided last Monday while pursuing militants in northern Mali where militant violence has soared in recent months.

It was the biggest single-day loss for the

French military in nearly four decades and raised fresh questions about the effectiveness of France’s 4,500-member Barkhane operation in Mali and four other countries in the Sahel.

Margot Louvet, 23, came from Gap in southeast France for the procession, wearing a T-shirt with the official portrait of one of the soldiers killed, her friend Antoine Serre, 22.

“He was a pearl, the kindest and most generous,” she said.

“Being here is a way to mourn him, and realise that he won’t be coming back.”

President Emmanuel Macron was due to lead the commemoration this afternoon, and bestow the Legion d’honneur on the fallen soldiers.

The French forces in Mali are tasked with training local security forces to take on the militants, but so far these remain woefully unprepared despite years of pledges of more international funding and equipment.

Forty-one French soldiers have now died in the Sahel over the past six years.

The intervention began in 2013, when insurgents swept into Mali’s north and rapidly advanced before being pushed back.

But despite France’s presence the jihadists have regrouped to carry out deadly attacks and violence has spread to neighbouring countries.

Macron said the government would begin a thorough review of Barkhane in the wake of the helicopter accident, vowing that “all options are on the table.”

He also reiterated his call for EU allies to step up their participation in the West Africa operation after years of failing to secure significant support.

Only Britain has contributed helicopters and security personnel, while the US provides intelligence on extremist movements across an area the size of Western Europe.

So far, only the far-left France Unbowed party has openly called for the Barkhane troops to be brought home.