Paris, Jan. 31, (dpa/GNA) – Some 60 terrorists were “neutralized” in a joint operation between the French operation Barkhane and the Burkina Faso army, the military head of the French Armed Forces said on Sunday.
The operation, dubbed Laabingol, was carried out between January 16-23 near Burkina Faso’s border with Mali, the French army said in a statement, adding that “nearly sixty terrorists were put out of action.”
In a tweet the army used the term “neutralized,” without specifying whether the terrorist were killed or captured.
The French army said the operation targeted areas known to shelter armed terrorist groups.
The former colonial power France is massively active in West Africa against Islamist militias. The current French operation Barkhane includes up to 5,100 soldiers.
Several armed groups are active in the states of the Sahel – an area that stretches south of the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Some have sworn allegiance to the terrorist groups Islamic State or al-Qaeda.
GNA