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Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said the rebels were practicing “harmful methods” after the death of five French soldiers in Mali.
Parly added in an interview with the newspaper “Le Parisien” on Monday, “We will most likely have to adjust this deployment. The reinforcements are, by definition, a temporary (measure)”, after sending reinforcements of 600 soldiers, carrying force to 5,100 soldiers in 2020.
Parly indicated that the decision will be made at the next joint summit between France and the five main Sahel countries in February in N’Djamena.
The minister considered that Barkhane’s force had achieved in 2020 “great military successes, either by killing several senior officials of terrorist groups or by attacking their supply chains.”
The Algerian leader of “Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb”, Abdelmalek Droukdel, was assassinated in northern Mali in June. Likewise, France announced in November the “neutralization” of Ba Ag Moussa, whom it described as the “military leader” of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims “and” one of the historical cadres of the jihadist movement in the Sahel. “
Three French soldiers were killed Monday in an improvised explosive device attack, which the group said, and two others on Saturday, under similar circumstances. All five soldiers died while traveling in a light armored vehicle.
Once again, the minister ruled out any negotiations “with terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, which kill indiscriminately with blood on their hands,” but indicated that the door is open to “people who lay down their arms and do not act according to an extremist ideology. and criminal ”, and the 2015 Algiers Peace Accords must be added.
The Malian transitional authorities do not rule out entering into negotiations with armed groups to confront the continuing violence, as well as conflicts between local groups.
