Paris (AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron bowed on Monday before the "sacrifice" of the thirteen soldiers who died last week in Mali "for France" and "the Sahel people", during a solemn and icy national tribute in the courtyard of the Invalides in Paris.

In a very heavy atmosphere, the head of state hailed "thirteen French destinies", in front of some 2,500 people, including the families of the victims and many politicians.

Military, veterans, anonymous ... thousands of people had first gathered under a bright sun and scathing cold to see the procession on the Pont Alexandre III, before it enters the enclosure which hosts since the 17th century veterans and wounded war.

The caskets draped in national colors were then worn by the comrades of the soldiers killed, at the sound of the drums, in the heart of the paved courtyard before being arranged in front of the president.

Mr. Macron singled out their names and journeys, the serious tone, praising the "courage" and "human qualities" of these men who were killed in the collision of two helicopters during a combat operation , in northeastern Mali.

"I bow to their sacrifice," "they died for us all," said Emmanuel Macron. "They died in operation, for France, for the protection of the people of the Sahel, for the safety of their compatriots and for the freedom of the world, for all of us who are there."

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"Their deep, modest and discreet commitment is made public only by the ultimate sacrifice, far from the clash of useless words," he added.

All were made Knights of the Legion of Honor posthumously. The Ringtone to the dead then sounded as the coffins were carried out of the yard, followed by family members, some of whom had intertwined, red-eyed.

The military must be buried this week in separate funerals. A ceremony is planned in Pau (south-west) Tuesday, on the base that lost in the drama seven of his soldiers.

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita attended the ceremony, along with former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, and leaders of the main political parties.

The heavy human toll of this tragedy, which leaves thirteen fatherless orphans, has had the effect of an electroshock in France, whose army had not suffered such losses since the attack against the French headquarters Drakkar in Beirut in 1983, which had killed 58 people.

Their death also revived issues around the French engagement in the Sahel, where the security situation continues to worsen, even if only the boss of the radical left Jean-Luc Mélenchon openly demands the return of troops. In contrast, nearly six in ten French (58%) are in favor of maintaining the operation, according to an IFOP poll released Monday.

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The two helicopters collided as they supported paratrooper commandos who spotted suspicious pickups in the border zone with Niger and Burkina Faso, a region serving as a haunt for jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State. (EI) or Al Qaeda. None of the occupants survived.

The 13 killed soldiers, all officers and non-commissioned officers, were serving with the 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment (5th RHC), 4th Regiment of Hunters (4th RCH), 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment (93rd RMA) and the Foreign Legion, all represented at the ceremony.

The French operation Barkhane mobilizes 4,500 men in the Sahelo-Saharan strip, a vast area like Europe, to fight against armed groups. But after six years of uninterrupted presence, and 41 dead on the French side, the horizon is increasingly sealed.

Jihadist violence persists in northern Mali and has spread to the center of the country as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. The losses are more and more heavy for the local armies, overwhelmed.

The fight of France in the Sahel "is a long time," said for its part the Minister of Armies Florence Parly. But officials and experts agree that there will be no way out of this conflict by force of arms and without political action, while the jihadism and violence that has already left thousands of people are spreading.

dab-bur-lv-dla / cf / swi

© 2019 AFP