By RFIPosted on 26-11-2019Modified on 26-11-2019 at 23:46

After the death of thirteen French soldiers of the Barkhane force in the collision of their helicopters on Monday night in northern Mali, tributes to the victims poured into the political classes of both countries. Accompanied, for some, a questioning of the presence of French troops in the Sahel.

In France, the highest political and military authorities - Head of State, Minister and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces - welcomed the commitment of the thirteen soldiers who died in the accident .

Thirteen of our soldiers died yesterday in Mali. They were engaged in a combat operation against terrorists. These thirteen heroes had only one goal: to protect us. I bow to the pain of their loved ones and comrades.

Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 26, 2019

@ florence_parly pays homage to "13 exceptional soldiers, 13 dead heroes for France" Monday night at # Mali. # MPLF pic.twitter.com/YpXmFEdjDY

Ministry of the Armed Forces (@Defense_gouv) November 26, 2019

Even unanimity in the Chamber of the National Assembly which respected a minute of silence.

13 French soldiers killed in Mali: "Our country is in mourning In the name of the national representation I extend our deepest condolences and assure them of the unfailing solidarity of the nation", says @RichardFerrand. MEPs respect a minute of silence # DirectAN pic.twitter.com/Ld7aw1hbWd

LCP (@LCP) November 26, 2019

Supported by the majority, the right and the socialists, Operation Barkhane is currently the largest foreign operation of the French army with 4,500 troops deployed.

It is particularly on the side of insubordinate France that discordant voices were raised to question the relevance of continuing this operation, in progress since 2014.

For Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the six years of French military presence are a failure: " It is necessary that the Malian people is master of the decision. It is not up to us French to decide what is good and what is not good for Mali. "

The far-left party is asking for a debate.

At some point, we will have to wonder about what we are doing in Mali, because we do not really understand the reasons for our presence there and the Malians do not understand it anymore [ ...] The wish that young French no longer dies in Mali for reasons that are actually unknown. In any case, we must be able to debate it democratically at the level of the National Assembly.

Eric Coquerel

26-11-2019 - By Anne Soetemondt

A debate immediately swept aside by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, questioned in the Assembly: " It is a very long fight whose military dimension is not the only dimension, we know it perfectly. But she is indispensable. "

"In Mali France is fighting, a tough fight, a fight against bands trying to destabilize states and organize themselves to destabilize ourselves," says @ EPhilippePM. # DirectAN #QAG pic.twitter. com / jvEqfadwsr

LCP (@LCP) November 26, 2019

The question seems to have found an echo in Mali. If President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta paid tribute to the dead soldiers by recalling the deep reasons for their presence ...

Even today, we have to deplore the death of thirteen young Frenchmen who came to the Sahel to defend the values ​​that we share, peace, tolerance, living together, peaceful. Mali is a grateful country, Mali knows what it costs this country to send its children to the Sahel to defend these causes: the cause of peace, the anti-terrorism, and also the promotion of development and democracy in our spaces. That's all these young people had come to defend. So their death can never leave us indifferent. Better: we are in total empathy with France and the families of these young people who have disappeared.

Malian President IBK: "Mali knows what it costs this country to send its children to the Sahel"

26-11-2019 - By Serge Daniel

For the spokesman of the government of Mali, Yaya Sangaré, a weakening of the French device on the ground would not be the solution.

They died for France, they died for Mali, for peace, for freedom for all the Sahel [...] We implore God so that their death is not futile and we think that it will give more courage, more commitment to others so that we can defeat terrorism definitively.

Yaya Sangare

26-11-2019 - By Magali Lagrange

Reaction also to the neighbor of Burkina Faso, also a prey to terrorism, a strong resurgence in recent months. On Twitter, the President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré yesterday " greeted " the " memory " of the missing soldiers and " address (his) sincere condolences to their families as well as to all the French people ".

In the evening, Alpha Barry, the Burkinabè Foreign Minister, said he was reassured by the words of the French Minister of the Armed Forces that the time has not come " to the questioning of the merits " of the military commitment to Sahel because, according to him, Paris's commitment alongside the Sahel armies in the fight against terrorism is essential.

We hear the same voices [protest against the French presence] in Burkina Faso. This commitment, I tell you, from 2017 to today, is about twenty medical evacuations at our request, interventions on the ground as recently in Djibo with the security of the city when it was threatened. These are concrete things that are important to our defense. Now, the clamor, we hear them, the debate may be normal, but the reality is that one.

Alpha Barry

26-11-2019 - By Florence Morice

    On the same subject

    French soldiers dead in Mali: Liptako Gourma, fighting zone

    Mali: 13 French soldiers of the Barkhane force killed in a helicopter crash

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