French Army In Heavy Combat Operations Against Insurgents During War In Mali

Archive video footage shows French army soldiers in heavy combat operations against insurgents in Mali. The video footage shows scenes from the Battle of Gao, Mali and several other French military operations against insurgent forces during the the Northern Mali Conflict or so called Mali War. Named after the serval, a medium-sized African wild cat, the codename of French operation was Operation Serval. Its main goal to to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali after they had begun to push into the center of the country. Operation Serval followed a United Nations Security Council Resolution and an official request by the Malian interim government for French military assistance was made. The operation ended on 15 July 2014, and was replaced by Operation Barkhane, launched on 1 August 2014 to fight Islamist fighters in the Sahel. Operation Barkhane is an ongoing anti-insurgent operation that started on August 1, 2014 and is led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa’s Sahel regi