PARIS - President Francois Hollande says that a French soldier has been killed in a clash with extremists in a mountainous region of northern Mali.
The death on Tuesday of a Foreign Legionnaire brings to two the number of French troops killed since the start of the French military intervention on Jan. 11 — the day a helicopter pilot was killed.
Hollande, speaking during a visit to Greece, says "We are now in the last phase of the operation" to root out extremists from northern Mali.
The French-led operation aimed at preventing the extremists, who are inspired by radical Islam, from grabbing more territory in the African country.