"It is with great sorrow that the President of the Republic learned of the death in combat of two soldiers from first regiment of Valencia, killed this morning in Mali in an improvised explosive device attack on their armoured vehicle,” said a statement released by the Élysée presidential office.
France has deployed around 4,000 French troops in the West Africa's Sahel region as part of Operation Barkhane aimed at tackling Islamist militants in the region.
