France Vows to Continue Fight Against Mali's Jihadists
- Prime minister says troops will stay ‘as long as necessary’
- Comments come after French soldiers kill al-Qaeda commander
Photographer: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images
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France remains committed to fighting Islamist militants in West Africa, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said, two days after French troops killed a prominent jihadist leader.
Philippe spoke during a visit to Mali, where France has deployed about 3,000 soldiers to hunt militants following a 2012 insurgency that almost led to the collapse of the state. Despite the deployment of more than 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers, militants are now increasingly active in the country’s center and target civilians as well as Malian troops.