This archive report was first published on 3 December 2019.
Published on December 3, 2019, a French helicopter collision in northern Mali resulted in the deaths of 13 French troops, highlighting the ongoing challenges in the region.
Mali has been grappling with an Islamist insurgency that began in 2012, resulting in thousands of military and civilian casualties.
Despite the presence of 4,500 French troops and a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali, the conflict has spread to the center of the country and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
On Monday, Mali's armed forces announced that nine troops were injured in a homemade roadside bomb attack in Diougani, a village in the Mopti region near the border with Burkina Faso.
Two soldiers later succumbed to their wounds, bringing the total number of Malian troops killed by such bombs to at least four since last month, along with two from Burkina Faso and one from France.
Since September, over 140 Malian troops have lost their lives, including 43 in a single ambush last month.
