French solider killed in Mali

French soldier perished in Mali after his armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, France’s presidency said in a statement.

Le brigadier Ronan Pointeau est mort au Mali, en opération. À sa famille, à ses proches et ses frères d'armes, je veux dire ma tristesse et la pleine solidarité de la Nation. Je salue sa bravoure et à travers lui celle de nos militaires.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 2, 2019

Corporal Ronan Pointeau died near Menaka in eastern Mali following “the detonation of an improvised explosive device as his armoured vehicle drove by,” the statement said.

Le brigadier Ronan Pointeau est mort au Mali, en opération. À sa famille, à ses proches et ses frères d'armes, je veux dire ma tristesse et la pleine solidarité de la Nation. Je salue sa bravoure et à travers lui celle de nos militaires.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 2, 2019

President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Pointeau’s “sacrifice” and said his thoughts were with the soldier’s colleagues and “his Sahelian brothers in arms, who are paying a heavy price in the fight against terrorism.”

#Mali l’#EI revendique l’IED contre un convoi de #Barkhane qui a coûté la vie à un militaire français #France dans la région d’#Indelimane pic.twitter.com/9IILjAYV8r

— Wassim Nasr (@SimNasr) November 2, 2019

The Sahel region became a battlefield between jihadists and governmental forces backed by troops from France and UN peacekeepers.

Pointeau’s death follows an attack on November 1 in the same region that left 49 Malian soldiers dead (according to the other reports 53 military and one civilian).

The offensive was claimed by the Islamic state group via their news site Amaq.