The French President Francois Hollande has confirmed to reporters that a French soldier has been killed by Islamist Militants in Northern Mali in a cross fire on Tuesday.

An official statement from the French defence ministry also added that More than 20 militants also died in the cross fire in the mountainous northern region in the desert.

“There was a serious clash with many dead on the terrorist side but also one death on the French side,” Mr. Hollande said in a broadcast on Radio France International Africa Service.

He said the soldier from the French Foreign Legion was killed as Special Forces hunted militants hiding in the Ifoghas Massif – a remote mountain region in the Sahara.

President Hollande also stressed that the French troops are in their last phase of operation which may suggest that France will withdraw from Mali immediately as it requested to the United Nations last two weeks to take over the mission in Mali.

“The continuing mission was aimed at capturing the last terrorist groups and leaders, we are now in the last phase of the operation in Mali and hope to withdraw soon’’, Mr. Hollande added.

This is France’s second fatality in Mali since it began its military intervention there last month alongside Malian and African Union troops.

French troops backed by helicopters and planes have helped restore government control of northern Mali, killing hundreds of suspected militants according to the BBC African Service.

France intervened in Mali just over a month ago to stop Islamist militants who had taken control of northern Mali from advancing on the capital, Bamako.

French forces helped government troops recapture the main north cities and towns, and thousands of soldiers from African countries have also been deployed.

The only casualty France had recorded already was a helicopter pilot who was killed on the first day of France’s military intervention on 11 January, 2013 bringing the casualties now to two deaths.

Seven French Tourists abducted in Cameroon

In another related development in Cameroon, seven French tourists, four of them children, have been abducted in Cameroon and taken across the border into Nigeria.

President Hollande said the seven were a family and the French embassy in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, said that there were two girls and two boys in the abductees.

The abductors were on motorbikes, the embassy said, when they grabbed the family in Dandanga, near the Nigerian border.

The abductors then took them across the border into Nigeria and suspicious has been cast at the Islamist Militants Boko Haram of being behind but no group has claimed responsibility for now.

They visited the Waza nature reserve on Monday and slept in a camp there overnight before leaving Tuesday morning, local reporters in the area reported.

But President Hollande said they are working very hard to make sure that the tourists are freed or rescued but did not give further details on how is going to be carried out.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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