Thirteen French soldiers of the Barkhane force died Monday night in Mali in the collision of two helicopters during a combat operation against jihadists, in an alarming security situation in the Sahel. This is the heaviest human toll suffered by the French military since the beginning of their deployment in the Sahel in 2013.

The black boxes of two military helicopters crashed Monday night in Mali have been recovered and will be analyzed, said Wednesday morning at BFMTV Colonel Frederic Barbry, spokesman for the army, two days after the accident that has caused the death of 13 French soldiers in Mali.

"The two black boxes of the helicopters have been recovered and will be handed over to the relevant authorities for analysis," Barbry said. Two helicopters, a Tiger and a Cougar, collided during a fight against jihadists on Monday night in southern Mali, killing 13 soldiers.