French Soldier Killed in Attack on Military Camp in Northern Mali

Macron's office paid tribute to brigadier Alexandre Martin, who was killed in a mortar attack on Saturday, AFP reported.

More than 4,000 French forces are stationed in the Sahel region of West Africa, most of them in Mali.

France, which first deployed troops in the West African country nine years ago purportedly to fight an extremist insurgency, has spent around €880 million a year on a mission that has cost 53 French soldiers their lives.

Paris has started reducing its presence, hoping to halve the contingent by the summer of 2023, and has asked its European Union allies to provide more support.

It is now mulling an earlier exit amid rapidly deteriorating relations with the military junta that has ruled the country since a coup in August 2020.