On Friday evening, the French presidency announced the killing of a French soldier during a confrontation with an armed group in Mali, bringing the number of French soldiers killed in operations in the African Sahel region since 2013 to 52.
The presidency said - in a statement - that Corporal Maxime Blasco of the 7th Alps Battalion was killed during a battle "against an armed terrorist group", as it described it.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "deep affection" and stressed "France's determination to fight terrorism," according to him.
Last June, Blasco received a military medal in recognition of his "exceptional services", according to a presidential statement.
For its part, the French Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the dead soldier was part of a French unit deployed in a forested area near the Mali border with Burkina Faso.
The ministry explained that the unit's mission was to track down an armed group that had been spotted earlier by a drone.
The unit was supported by two armed helicopters and a drone.
The statement said that the gunmen clashed with the unit and that a sniper killed Blasco.
He added that the sniper was also killed in the clash.
France deployed forces in 2013 to expel armed Islamist groups that had seized cities and towns in northern Mali.
Eight years after this military intervention, President Macron announced last June to reduce the French presence in the region and focus efforts on "anti-terror" operations and support local armies in battles within the framework of an international coalition that includes European countries.
It is assumed that the number of French forces in the Sahel region will be reduced from more than 5,000 members currently to 3,000 or 2,500 by 2023, at the end of a reorganization process that began in recent weeks and includes the closure of French military sites in Kidal, Tassalit and Timbuktu in northern Mali.