Soldier killed in Mali: Master Corporal Maxime Blasco, a 34-year-old soldier with an “admirable” career – LCI

Several times decorated, he received in June the military medal “for the exceptional value of its services”. In a statement, the Presidency of the Republic announced Friday that Master Corporal Maxime Blasco, 34, was killed in action in Mali, while France began the partial disengagement of the Barkhane force in the Sahel. The death of this soldier of the 7th battalion of alpine hunters of Varces (Isère, south-east) caused “particularly lively emotion” of President Emmanuel Macron, the statement said.

According to the army staff, the victim was killed “during a reconnaissance and harassment operation” in the Gossi region, near the border between Mali and Burkina Faso. “Elements of an armed terrorist group were detected by a Reaper drone early in the morning, in the N’Daki ​​forest. A patrol of two attack helicopters was quickly engaged to neutralize them”, continued the staff.

A group of commandos were then deployed on the ground. He “was taken at close range by other elements of the terrorist armed group. During this action, Master Corporal Maxime Blasco was hit by a sniper”. He quickly succumbed to his injuries, according to the military statement.

The army made a point of paying a very strong tribute to Master Corporal Blasco. In 2019, he saved the lives of two of his comrades after their Gazelle helicopter crashed. Seriously injured, especially with multiple vertebral fractures, he had succeeded in extracting them over about fifty meters before installing them. “in a somewhat artisanal way on the skates” a Tiger helicopter to evacuate them from the combat zone, recalled during a press briefing Colonel Pascal Ianni, spokesperson for the French armies. A remarkable act of bravery. “He had four citations and was on his fourth commitment to Barkhane in three years. He was someone with an exceptional operational background.”

The Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, for her part, bowed “with deep respect for the memory of this seasoned alpine hunter“, in a press release. “An elite soldier with an admirable career, he was decorated three times with the Cross of Military Valor with a bronze star (…). He received the Cross of Military Valor with a vermeil star”.

His death brings to 52 the number of French soldiers killed in action in the Sahel since 2013 in the anti-jihadist operations Serval and then Barkhane, to which are added six deaths by accident.

Paris had claimed the “neutralization” in August in Mali by the leader of the jihadist group Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS), Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahraoui, an operation described as “major success” for France.

On Emmanuel Macron’s decision, France has undertaken to reorganize its military system in the Sahel, in particular by leaving the northernmost bases of Mali (Kidal, Timbuktu and Tessalit) and by reducing the number of troops in the region from here. 2023, at 2,500-3,000 men compared to more than 5,000 today.

A logistical challenge that requires close coordination with Bamako, while relations between the two parties are currently strained. The Malian junta is indeed considering concluding a contract with the sulphurous Russian paramilitary company Wagner, described as close to Russian power. A deployment of these mercenaries would be “incompatible” with the maintenance of French troops in Mali, warned the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian.