French soldier dies in clash with radicals in north Mali, France’s president says

PARIS – President Francois Hollande says that a French soldier has been killed in a clash with extremists in a mountainous region of northern Mali.

The death on Tuesday of a Foreign Legionnaire brings to two the number of French troops killed since the start of the French military intervention on Jan. 11 — the day a helicopter pilot was killed.

Hollande, speaking during a visit to Greece, says “We are now in the last phase of the operation” to root out extremists from northern Mali.

The French-led operation aimed at preventing the extremists, who are inspired by radical Islam, from grabbing more territory in the African country.

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