Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week promised continued U.S. airlift and air refueling support for French aircraft battling extremists in Mali.
French forces in January 2013 led an operation to push extremists out of areas throughout northeastern Mali and continue to fight to stabilize the region. Since the operation kicked off, U.S. Air Force crews have flown airlift and air refueling support for French forces.
“French operations there are preventing spillover of terrorism, trafficking and extremism, disrupting al-Qaida affiliates, Boko Haram and other extremists in North and West African nations, like Mali, Niger and Chad, and the U.S. military will continue to support France in these efforts with our lift and aerial refueling capabilities,” Carter said in a July 6 briefing with French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves le Drian.
As of July 3, U.S. Air Force tankers assigned to the 351st Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron out of Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, had flown 638 sorties, providing 2,702 French receiver aircraft with nearly 25 million pounds of fuel since the operations began in 2013, according to U.S. African Command.
Early in the operation, five U.S .C-17s flew French forces and equipment to Mali.
“The French have been leaders in that part of Africa in a very admirable way,” Carter said. “We support them, as well as supporting the governments in the region directly.”
During the joint briefing, Carter mentioned increasing remotely piloted aircraft sorties to support the operation.
France has about 1,200 troops in the area, leading a five-nation coalition, according to The Associated Press.
Since the operations began, Le Drian said he has seen African nations implementing their own security with France’s support. Those countries, including Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria, with the support of France, Great Britain and the U.S., can attack, respond and eliminate the Islamic State-affiliated terrorist group Boko Haram, he said.
