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30 jihadis reported 'neutralized' in French-Malian raids near Burkina Faso
PARIS - French and Malian troops killed or captured more than 30 extremists and dismantled a jihadist training camp during a major counter-terrorism operation near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso, the French military told AFP on Friday.
The operation is the first since French forces set up a base south of the bend of the Niger River, building an advance position outside the town of Gossi in the heart of the restive Gourma region.
“Over 30 members of armed terrorist groups were neutralized,” the military said, a term meaning that they were killed or captured.
A French military doctor was also killed during the operation, the military previously reported.
The operation, lasting about 10 days, was launched in late March in Gourma, a crossroads region in Mali’s central belt that flanks the border with Burkina Faso.
The doctor was killed when his vehicle hit a mine, bringing to 24 the number of French defense force members killed in counterterrorism operations in the region since 2013.
Some 4,500 French troops are deployed in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad in a mission codenamed Barkhane to help local forces try to flush out jihadi groups.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/11/world/30-jihadis-reported-neutralized-french-malian-raids-near-burkina-faso/