A French Foreign Legion soldier was killed in combat in Mali, the Élysée presidential palace announced in a press release on Monday.
First Class Legionnaire Kévin Clement was killed in action on Monday during an operation against armed terrorist groups in Mali, the French presidential office said.
Ce lundi 4 mai, lors d’une opération visant un groupe armé terroriste au Mali,le 1re classe Kévin Clément du #1REC, est mort pour la France dans l’accomplissement de sa mission au sein de l’opération #Barkhane. https://t.co/8FZwkYN9D9
— Armée de Terre (@armeedeterre) May 4, 2020
Clement's death came days after another French Foreign Legion soldier, Brigadier Dymyto Martynyouk, died of injuries sustained during fighting in Mali.
France started its military operations there in 2013, after Mali asked it to help regain territory seized by Islamist extremists who had hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the country’s northern desert regions the previous year.
The French military succeeded in this initial task – but the deadly jihadist insurgency has since spread throughout Mali and across the border to Niger and Burkina Faso.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
