Mali: “Particularly violent combat” between French troops and Islamic jihadists; one soldier killed

Robert Spencer Oct 30, 2014 at 3:26pm France, Mali 7 Comments

Remember the jihad in Mali? The jihadists do. The conflict between the jihadis and Western forces is not actually a series of discrete, localized “clashes,” as it is portrayed in the mainstream media. It is actually a global defense against forces with a unified ideology and common goals. And it will be an endless war until some Western leader has the courage to confront the ideology that gives rise to it. So far, none do.

“French soldier killed in clash with Islamist militants in Mali,” Reuters, October 29, 2014 (thanks to Maxwell):

(Reuters) – France said on Wednesday a French soldier was killed during a fierce clash between its forces and Islamist militants in northern Mali earlier in the day.

The offices of President Francois Hollande and Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian both confirmed the death on Wednesday of Thomas Dupuy, a sergeant from a commando parachutist unit in the air force.

His death raised to 10 the number of French soldiers killed since France intervened militarily in Mali in January 2013 to help drive out Islamist insurgents who had seized control of the former French colony’s north.

Le Drian’s office said in a statement that French forces had battled a militant group of some 30 fighters in the Tigharghar valley, part of the mountainous Adrar des Ifoghas area.

“Particularly violent combat took place. Our soldier was mortally hurt and two of his comrades were wounded.” Operations will continue in the coming hours, the statement said….

Addressing a parliamentary hearing earlier in the day, Le Drian said the militants might be linked to al Qaeda’s North African wing, AQIM, which has thrived in a largely lawless and sparsely populated desert region.

France’s intervention in Mali was designed to retake control of northern towns that had been overrun by separatists and rebels linked to al Qaeda in 2012 after a coup in the capital Bamako. It has since evolved into a 3,000-strong counter-terrorism mission stretching from Mauritania to southern Libya….