France air strikes kill over 50 extremists in Mali

French defence minister Florence Parly announced  that airstrikes by France had neutralised over 50 Al-Qaeda-linked extremists in Mali. "Four terrorists have been captured," French military spokesman Colonel Frederic Barbry said. "I would like to reveal an operation of great importance which was carried out on October 30 in Mali by the Barkhane force, which was able to neutralize more than 50 jihadists and confiscated arms and material," said French Defense Minister Florence Parly.

Explosives and a suicide vest had been found, he told reporters, adding that the group was "about to attack (an army) position in the region."The French operation took place in an area near the borders of Burkina Faso and Niger where government troops are fighting an Islamic insurgency, Parly said after a meeting with members of Mali's transitional government in the capital city of Bamako. The offensive was launched after a drone detected a "very large" motorcycle caravan in the "three borders" area, she said. 

The French skin in the Sahen region of Africa, extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan, Game is visible by its ongoing operation ‘BARKHANE’ which is the largest French military operation outside France with 4,500 troops. In the latest attack, French forces used two Mirage jets and a drone to target a moving caravan of motorbikes belonging to jihadist group Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) or Groupe de soutien à l'islam et aux musulmans (GSIM). Targeting a moving bike caravan is not a new pattern in this region as these terror groups rely heavily on illicit bike trade to survive.