2e REI: Four wounded legionnaires in Mali | French Foreign Legion Information

Four legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) were badly wounded during a terrorist attack in Mali, West Africa. Their armored vehicle was hit by a suicide car loaded with explosives, driven by a member of the local JNIM group.

The attack of the group affiliated to Al-Qaida took place Sunday morning, July 1, 2018 at Gao, a city in northeastern Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. VBCI vehicles of the 2e REI, participating in Operation Barkhane, were targeted during a patrol in the sector by a suicide car. One VBCI crossed the road to the car and the latter exploded. The explosion damaged the VBCI and wounded the legionnaires going inside. It also killed four civilians. Tens of civilians were wounded.

The four badly wounded legionnaires were transported to France to be hospitalized in Paris. Their condition is said to be stabilized.

In June 2018, the 2e REI legionnaires served in Mali, Burkina Faso, Iraq or in the Caribbean Sea.

Gao: Attack in Mali 2018 — *Gao* in Mali, the site of the attack; © **Image credit**: *Ouest-france.fr – VisActu*

—