RAF Chinook Part Of Response After French Troops Killed In Mali Helicopter Crash

A Chinook was involved in the response following the incident (Library picture: RAF).

A Royal Air Force Chinook has been involved in the response effort after 13 French soldiers died in Mali.

The French personnel died after a mid-air collision between two helicopters on Monday evening.

It is thought to be France's highest military death toll in nearly four decades.

The military said the helicopters were flying very low when they collided and crashed in Mali's Liptako region near Niger while supporting French commandos on the ground pursuing a group of extremists.

No one on board survived.

They had been in the country to fight Islamic extremists.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed "deep sadness" at the news, and stressed the "courage of the French soldiers".

Following the incident, an RAF Chinook helped take French troops from the main Gao base to a forward operating base.

French defence minister, Florence Parly, said an investigation was underway.

The operation in West and Central Africa involves 4,500 personnel and is France's largest overseas military mission.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace offered his "deepest condolences" to the families and friends of the victims.

Mr Wallace said: "I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the French soldiers who died in a tragic incident in Mali.

"We pay tribute to their role in fighting terrorism in the Sahel alongside UK personnel and are indebted to them for their courage and bravery in service to their nation."

More than 100 local troops have been killed in the past two months, with so-called Islamic State (IS) claiming responsibility.

A a five-nation regional counter-terror force and a UN peacekeeping mission contribute to a number of efforts to counter to rising extremist threats in the country.

In July, then-Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced 250 British personnel would deploy to the Sahel region to assist the UN mission.