A French armored vehicle in the Hombori Mountains region, where three French soldiers were killed on December 28, 2020 (illustration) -

AFP

The Support Group for Islam and Muslims, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack that claimed the lives of three French soldiers from Operation Barkhane on Monday in Mali, in a statement released by its platform Al-Zallaqa propaganda campaign.

The GSIM (or Jnim according to the Arabic acronym), the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel, invokes the continuation of the French military presence in the sub-region, the caricatures of Mohammed and the defense taken by President Emmanuel Macron of their publication in the name freedom of expression, as well as the policy of the French government towards Muslims in France.

"To end the French occupation of the Sahel region, your Mujahideen brothers [from GSIM] carried out a qualitative operation against a convoy of French occupation forces on the road between Gossi and Hombori," the group wrote in this press release released on Friday.

"This blessed operation claimed the lives of three members of the elite forces of the occupation army."

GSIM did not provide details of the attack.

The three soldiers were killed in the border area with Niger and Burkina Faso when their armored vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device while participating in an escort mission, according to the French presidency.

A final tribute will be paid to them on Monday in Paris, announced Florence Parly, the Minister of the Armed Forces.

A final public tribute will be paid to Marshal des Logis Tanerii Mauri, Brigadiers Quentin Pauchet and Dorian Issakhanian on the Alexandre III bridge, Monday at 4.30 p.m.

A last silent moment so that everyone can honor their memory and support their loved ones.

https://t.co/4o0Ll5TTcF

- Florence Parly (@florence_parly) December 31, 2020

Their death brings to 47 the number of French soldiers killed in the Sahel since 2013 in the Serval then Barkhane operations.

France hired 600 additional troops in the Sahel in 2020, bringing its strength to around 5,100.

It is currently reviewing the evolution of this commitment.

The GSIM calls on the French to "put pressure on (their) leaders to withdraw from the land of Mali".

The statement was authenticated by the American center for monitoring jihadist sites SITE.

At the end of November, the commander of Barkhane, Marc Conruyt, had indicated in front of the French deputies the GSIM as the “most dangerous enemy” in the Sahel, where the group Islamic State is also present.

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