A French soldier has been killed in a suicide bombing in northern Mali, where local and peregrine troops have struggled to renovate order after quelling a revolt last year, officials verbally expressed.
The Peregrine Legion soldier, the ninth to die since France intervened in its former colony in January 2013, was killed in the northern city of Gao on Monday, the defence ministry verbalized.
France’s intervention in the African country halted the advance of an al-Qaeda-linked armed group who had capitalized on a Tuareg separatist uprising to occupy swathes of land in the north.
France and other Western powers feared the group could further destabilise the region and utilize the country as a launchpad for peregrine attacks.
Peace verbalizes were due to commence between Mali regime officials and Tuareg rebels in Algeria on Wednesday.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was withal set to peregrinate to Mali on Wednesday and President Francois Hollande was due in the region later this week.
Both had been expected to verbalize the security threat in Mali had reduced and that France should commence redeploying its troops.
