French Foreign Legion soldier dies in combat in Mali

A French Foreign Legion soldier was killed in combat in Mali, the Élysée presidential palace announced in a press release on Monday.

First Class Legionnaire Kévin Clement was killed in action on Monday during an operation against armed terrorist groups in Mali, the French presidential office said.

Clement’s death came days after another French Foreign Legion soldier, Brigadier Dymyto Martynyouk, died of injuries sustained during fighting in Mali.

France started its military operations there in 2013, after Mali asked it to help regain territory seized by Islamist extremists who had hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the country’s northern desert regions the previous year.

The French military succeeded in this initial task – but the deadly jihadist insurgency has since spread throughout Mali and across the border to Niger and Burkina Faso.