Petty Officers Cédric de Pierrepont, left, and Alain Bertoncello
Posted on 05/10/2019 1:57:12 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Commanders launched the operation to rescue two French tourists snatched in neighbouring Benin earlier this month, before they could be handed over to militants in Mali.
During the raid special forces found the kidnappers were also holding a US woman and a South Korean woman.
Two French soldiers and four kidnappers were killed. Two kidnappers escaped.
...Commanders decided to act because the kidnappers were close to the Malian border and were believed to be planning to hand the hostages over to the Mali-based militant group Katiba Macina.
"Once the hostages were in their hands it would have been impossible to rescue them," General François Lecointre told reporters.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
No greater love...
Sorry for the loss of those two soldiers of France.
The rebs must have got the jump on them.
Petty Officers Cédric de Pierrepont, left, and Alain Bertoncello
The French get a bad rap. Their generals may be incompetent, but the rank and file French soldier is tough, and their Spec Ops guys are among the best in the world.
Brave men.
They gave the ultimate.
Note: No one even knew the women were in captivity.
“The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!”
I thought my tagline had fallen off?
Still shows in the ‘tagline box’?
Possibly, dragging fingers over the Ctrl key, causing this problem? Some Ctrl combination?
France did not do well in the last World War. But that unfortunate episode aside, its martial history is in fact quite impressive.
I give France a bit of leeway for WW2, based on looking at what they went through during WW1.
The French suffered 100,000 casualties holding off the German Army long enough for the Brits to evacuate their troops from Dunkirk.
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