She learned that the Barkhane force had been struck again the day after a two-day trip to Chad, where she notably woke up with French troops, alongside Prime Minister Jean Castex.
The Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, gives the Parisian her first reactions and announces that she wants to "better protect" the soldiers engaged in the Sahel.
Five French soldiers were killed in less than a week in Mali.
How do you react to this very heavy toll?
FLORENCE PARLY.
I feel a lot of sadness and emotion.
The loss of soldiers, many soldiers in a few days, is a tragedy for all of us.
France has lost five of its children.
I will express our gratitude to them on Tuesday when I pay tribute to the three soldiers of the first regiment of hunters.
Then a few days later during the tribute that will be paid to the two hussars of the Haguenau regiment who fell on Saturday for France.
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Can we speak of a degradation of security in the region for French troops?
First, it is essential to remember that we are engaged in the Sahel at the request of the states concerned because terrorist groups, affiliated with Al-Qaida and Daesh, are sowing terror and chaos on the spot and that these same groups have a international agenda that directly concerns our security, us French and Europeans.
If the jihadists adopt these pernicious methods of guerrilla warfare, it is because they refuse the fight, aware that they would have no chance if they were to confront Barkhane's soldiers in a regular fight.
During the year 2020, we have indeed achieved significant military successes, both by neutralizing several senior officials of these terrorist groups and by attacking their supply chains to disrupt them.
But the jihadists' capacity for resistance remains important ...
Yes, the security conditions in the Sahel remain difficult.
Terrorists use the weapon of cowards, these improvised explosive devices slipped under the sand of the desert or on the roads and which are triggered indifferently to the passage of French soldiers or civilian vehicles as we have seen in recent days.
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Does this call for a change in strategy?
Since Barkhane (preceded by Serval) started its operations, we have continued to adapt to the configuration of the terrain, to the operating methods of terrorist groups.
This adaptation will continue naturally.
And I hope we can do more to better protect our soldiers.
At this very moment, we are working on the evolutions of the Barkhane force in the coming months.
Do you confirm the recall of 600 soldiers in the coming months?
At the Pau summit in January 2020, the President of the Republic decided on this reinforcement of 600 additional soldiers.
The objective was to target as a priority the group affiliated with Daesh, the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara (EIGS) in the area of the three borders (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) in which it is established.
This has produced important results.
A report will be drawn soon, at a new summit with African heads of state from the G5 Sahel.
We will very probably have to adjust this device: reinforcement by definition is temporary.
But the decision rests with the President of the Republic, head of the Armies.
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Is France not too alone in the Sahel?
No, France is not alone.
It enjoys growing support from European partners, as well as from the United States.
We are at this very moment in the process of deploying the Takuba force, made up of soldiers from the European special forces who will fight alongside the Malian armed forces, in particular in Ménaka (Mali), where the explosion that cost the life to our two hussars.
About 40 Estonian soldiers are already there.
They will be joined in a few days by 150 Swedish soldiers and around sixty Czech soldiers.
Italians should soon join them.
This force should be fully operational in the summer of 2021. A year ago, this Takuba force still seemed out of reach.
Do you confirm that France is now open to negotiations with certain local jihadist groups?
There is obviously no question of negotiating with terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda or Daesh, which murder indiscriminately and have blood on their hands.
Can we talk to people who have laid down their arms and who are not motivated by a radical and criminal ideology?
There is a framework for this: the Algiers agreement for peace and reconciliation in Mali signed in 2015, which unfortunately has not been implemented.
One of the goals is to get it done quickly.
2021 will mark the ninth year of French military engagement in the Sahel.
How long can this still last?
I have always said and repeated that our vocation was not to stay forever but the time necessary for our Sahelian partners and their armies, supported and accompanied effectively by the international community, to be able to respond to the threat themselves, what they start to do.
Politicians question the usefulness of Barkhane, fear a conflict without outcome.
Don't you fear that the operation will be more and more contested in France?
This is why we must make our objectives and our results well known.
And remember that it is at the request of the Sahel countries that we are present, a request that was reiterated a year ago in Pau.
I will be before parliamentarians again, especially in the Senate in February, to explain it.