Sahel Edition

Sahel: French warplane crashes in central MaliF

Posted On 20 July 2021

Number of times this article was read : 336

A French Mirage warplane crashed in an uninhabited area of central Mali on Tuesday after suffering a technical malfunction, but its two crew ejected and were quickly recovered, the French army said.  The plane was carrying out surveillance near the town of Homburi in support of ground troops from France’s Barkhane anti-terrorism force and Malian soldiers. The crashed aircraft was located and four helicopters were sent to recover the pilot and weapons officer, the army’s press office in Paris said. One of the two was slightly injured and brought to a French military base in Gao.

Barkhane is part of an eight-year-old French military deployment to combat jihadists in the Sahel.  Their bloody campaign has progressively moved from northern to central Mali, and then into Niger and Burkina Faso, claiming thousands of lives and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.

President Emmanuel Macron announced this month that France would start closing its Mali bases before year’s end and most of the 5,100 French soldiers deployed in the region will return home under a strategic revamp giving European allies a bigger role.

AFP

More on the Sahel

West Africa: Jihadist Attacks Intensify in Northern Benin Amid Cross-Border Insurgency PressureF

Jihadist attacks in northern Benin have intensified in recent weeks, with militants linked to JNIM claiming a deadly assault on a military position near the Niger border and carrying out additional raids on security posts along the country’s volatile frontiers with Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The violence underscores how northern Benin has become part of a wider cross-border insurgency spilling south from the central Sahel, even as authorities bolster Operation Mirador and try to prevent armed groups from entrenching themselves on Beninese soil.

Desert Locusts Stir Fresh Worries in North-West AfricaF

Small desert locust swarms recently detected along the western Sahara corridor have prompted stepped-up monitoring across parts of North and West Africa, where shifting rainfall can quickly turn quiet desert areas into launchpads for wider infestations.

Mali Army, Russian Allies Accused of Executing Civilians Near Mauritania BorderF

Seven Malian refugees traveling from Mauritania were allegedly executed by Malian soldiers and Russian Africa Corps personnel near Ahl El Kory, close to the Mauritanian border, after their vehicles were stopped on March 6. Local sources say the unarmed Fulani civilians were shot or had their throats cut, while other passengers were beaten, questioned as suspected jihadists, then released.