By Christophe BoisbouvierFrédéric RivièrePosted on 29-11-2019Modified the 29-11-2019 at 08:32

What happened Monday night in Mali in the zone of the three borders? According to the French army, two army helicopters collided and 13 French soldiers perished in the crash. General François Lecointre, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces is the guest of RFI this morning. He returns to this accident, denies that jihadist fire caused the accident, and the engagement of French troops on African soil.

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed on Thursday (November 28th) that it had caused a collision between two French helicopters , in which 13 soldiers were killed in Mali, forcing one of the aircraft to retreat after an ambush. A version denied this Friday morning on RFI by General Francois Lecointre, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

" It's absolutely wrong. What is true - as we have said - and in the current state of knowledge that we have, I will certainly not venture beyond: there is collision between two helicopters, in a combat operation very complex that requires in an operation and in a tough atmosphere of concentration of combat, risk measurement, a very fine coordination. And this coordination that is made complex by the combat, which is part of the fight, led to this accident.

But for all that, the jihadists, who were pursued and who were marked in a certain way on the ground, did not take any part in it. And so there was no withdrawal of a device against a shot of the jihadists.

The French army is telling the truth. I think it's important to measure it well. In any case, what I can absolutely testify today, and I will never venture to say something that is not strictly true, is that there was no shooting of jihadists on our helicopters ".

The Chief of Staff also said that France did not intend to withdraw from Mali but needed more support from its partners. French President Emmanuel Macron, yesterday receiving Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, recalled that France was at the forefront of the war on terror and that its allies needed to be "more involved" against "terrorism" in the Sahel.

► To read also : France wants its NATO allies "greater involvement" in the Sahel

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