Louis de Raguenel 7:49 p.m., January 23, 2022

A French soldier was killed on Saturday in Mali in a mortar attack on the Operation Barkhane military camp in Gao, the Elysee Palace announced on Sunday.

This new loss revives the debate on the relevance and interest of the French military mission in the Sahel.

This drama falls badly for the head of state Emmanuel Macron.

TO ANALYSE

The death in combat of Brigadier Alexandre Martin inevitably revives debates on the reason and format of our presence in the Sahel.

Above all, this tragic event comes as all the conditions set by the Head of State Emmanuel Macron to the Malian junta have been violated.

There is no military partnership with the Russian private military company Wagner.

And today, there are between 450 and 500 men of this paramilitary unit on the spot.

Another condition is the organization of democratic elections in February.

Today, the junta does not want to hear about it and evokes the possibility of new elections in five years.

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Background of 

fake news circulation

Finally, France had firmly asked Malians not to discuss with terrorist groups.

And a few months ago, the Malian military mandated two experienced terrorists, two targets of France moreover, to dialogue with terrorist organizations.

To conclude, Russia and Mali have never participated so much in the dissemination in the media and on social networks of information, often false, to develop anti-French sentiment.

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A complicated context therefore, and in addition in the middle of the French presidential campaign which concerns Emmanuel Macron today.

The head of state, who makes a point at each defense council on Mali, seems stuck between his intention to disengage and that of not letting Mali collapse and then fall into the hands of terrorist groups.