MALI, 8 February 2020, TON: On the information provided by the US intelligence operators regarding presence of Al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked groups, French Forces along with multinationals carried out three operations on Thursday and two on Saturday against the Malian Muslims, killing more than 32 persons, Armed forces said in a statement.
The main operations were conducted in the Gourma and Liptako regions where aerial bombing through Fighter aircrafts, helicopters and drone took place while ground forces carried out search operations in additional areas.
France, which controlled the country for sometime as colonial power had about 4,500 soldiers in the region in its counter-terrorism taskforce Operation Barkhane. Recently, additional 600 soldiers have been authorized. The reinforcements would mostly be sent to the area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. This is in addition to 13,000-strong-United Nations Peacekeeping force in Mali.