The emotion was palpable this Monday, January 25 at the headquarters of the army in Abidjan. “There is no better death than yours. Die in battle. Die on the field of honor. Dying weapon in hand. To die in the performance of one’s duty in the name of Côte d’Ivoire and peace in Africa ”, solemnly pronounced Lacina Doumbia, the chief of staff of the Ivorian armies, facing the four coffins decorated with the orange flag , white, green. “You are back home to the land of your ancestors. You are back home to the land where you were born. The Ivorian nation is gathered around you in the presence of the supreme chief of the armies who wanted to honor you, ”he continued while Côte d’Ivoire paid a last national tribute on Monday to its four peacekeepers killed in early January in Mali, the first Ivorians killed in foreign operations, in the presence of President Alassane Ouattara and Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko.
“You are our first deaths in combat”
The bodies of the four soldiers were repatriated Friday, after a ceremony at the war memorial at the headquarters of Minusma in Timbuktu. “Their painful departure is a reminder of the challenges we face every day on the ground in Mali. I strongly condemn these attacks against Minusma personnel. This is a worrying development, but we must not let such events discourage us, ”said Dennis Gyllensporre, commander of the Minusma, who had made the trip to Abidjan.
Mali: the difficult hunt for jihadists from within
Staff Sergeant Yacouba Doumbia, Adama Bakayoko, Amian Jean Bernard Guieguy and Corporal Moustapha Bamba of the special forces were killed in the explosion of an artisanal mine on January 13 between Douentza and Timbuktu, in northern Mali, where they were on patrol. Three of them were killed instantly in the explosion, the fourth, injured by the same explosion, died the next day, during his evacuation to Senegal. They were integrated into the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma), in which 816 Ivorians are deployed, according to UN figures. “You are our first deaths in combat in an external operation”, underlined General Doumbia. “This unfortunate event, which saddens us, cannot shake our convictions. Quite the contrary. Our commitment is strengthened. If peace in Côte d’Ivoire, the security of our fellow citizens, our wives and our children must be obtained through the price of blood, we are ready to pay it, even far from home, ”he said. added, obviously very moved and the voice tied.
A gesture also towards families
“I’m really proud of my son, of his work. He chose. You have to respect your work. What happens to you, you assume ”, told AFP Michel Amian Guieguy, father of Sergeant Bernard Armand Guiegui. The four soldiers were made knights of the national order. On Friday, the Prime Minister had handed over an envelope of 15 million CFA francs (about 23,000 euros) to each of the four families of victims. Few countries in the sub-region provide the families of soldiers killed in combat with a financial envelope. The UN mission in Mali, present in the country since 2013, is 15,000 men and women strong, including around 12,000 soldiers, the majority of whom are African.
Since its deployment, Minusma has lost 146 of its members in the hostilities, 60 of which were during or following explosions of improvised devices, one of the operating methods among the most used in the Sahel by the groups. jihadists, some affiliated with Al-Qaeda and others with the Islamic State organization. The sector where the attack took place is the field of action of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, Jnim in Arabic), affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and not of the Islamic State organization (IS ), active elsewhere in Mali. The GSIM has already claimed responsibility for the activation of improvised explosive devices which caused the deaths of five soldiers of the French anti-jihadist force Barkhane on December 28 and January 2 in Mali.
At the end of the ceremony, it was the Head of State Alassane Ouattara who officially presented the flag to the parents of the first Ivorian soldiers to fall in action in Mali.
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