A French Army convoy was attacked on January 11, 2018 by a suicide car bomb while driving between the towns of Idelimane and Menaka.
Three French soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in the attack which was later claimed by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
On 14 February, a French airstrike killed at least 10 Jihadists at the border between Algeria and Mali.
Two French soldiers from the 1st Spahi Regiment were killed and the Colonel-in-chief was wounded on 21 February when the armoured vehicle they were travelling in struck a mine between the towns of Gao and Menaka.

On 14 April 2018, JNIM militants launched an attack on a UN base in Timbuktu, wounding several French soldiers before being repelled by French, Malian and American troops.
Four French soldiers were seriously wounded by a suicide car bomb attack against a joint French-Malian patrol in Gao on 1 July 2018.
The attack, which heavily damaged a number of French VBCIs, also killed 4 civilians and seriously wounded 27 others.

On 22 February 2019, French forces backed by an armed reaper drone and a helicopter attacked a JNIM convoy killing 11 militants including senior leader Yahia Abou el Hamman in the Tombouctou Region of Mali.
A militant improvised explosive device struck a French armoured vehicle carrying out an anti-terrorist operation in the Mopti Region on 2 April, killing one French soldier and seriously wounding another.
Two French commandos of the Commandos Marine were killed on 9 May in the North of Burkina Faso during a rescue mission which successfully rescued four hostages, included two Frenchmen, and an  American and South Korean woman, who had been kidnapped by Islamists.

In mid-June 2019, a French Army Light Aviation Gazelle helicopter crashed in the border region between Mali and Niger after being fired upon by insurgent small arms fire.
The two pilots and a special forces sniper were subsequently rescued by another helicopter after destroying the damaged helicopter.
The French military base in Gao was assaulted by suicide bombers on 22 July in an attack that wounded 6 Estonian soldiers and a similar number of French personnel.
A French soldier was killed on 2 November 2019 when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device during a patrol near Menaka in eastern Mali.
French commandos launched a heli-borne raid later that month on an insurgent camp in Mali's eastern regions, which resulted in five insurgents killed and one French soldier being seriously injured.

On 25 November 2019, 13 French soldiers were killed in northern Mali when two French helicopters, a 'Tigre' and a 'Cougar', collided in mid-air while flying to reinforce soldiers engaged in combat with insurgents.
The loss of 13 soldiers was the heaviest loss of life for the French military since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.

On 21 December 2019, the French military killed 40 militants in an operation in the Mopti Region of Mali.
The area where the operation took place was controlled by Macina Liberation Front and it involved France's first ever use of a drone strike which accounted for 33 of the 40 killed insurgents.

The French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced in February 2020 that France would send an additional 600 troops to the Sahel region, bolstering Operation Barkhanes' force to 5,100 troops.
The first contingent of these reinforcements was 200 French Foreign Legion paratroopers from the 2e REP who were transported to Niger and formed a battle group called Desert Tactical Grouping (GTD) "Altor".
This battle group operated autonomously and without a base on the ground for over a month, receiving supplies only by airdrop.
GTD Altor killed over a dozen insurgents and disrupted their logistics throughout their initial month-long operation.

Two legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) were seriously wounded when their vehicle struck an IED during operations against insurgents on 23 April 2020; one of the legionnaires subsequently died from his wounds.
On 4 May 2020, a second legionnaire from the 1er REC was killed in action near Gao during
A French Army convoy was attacked on January 11, 2018 by a suicide car bomb while driving between the towns of Idelimane and Menaka. Three French soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in the attack which was later claimed by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. On 14 February, a French airstrike killed at least 10 Jihadists at the border between Algeria and Mali. Two French soldiers from the 1st Spahi Regiment were killed and the Colonel-in-chief was wounded on 21 February when the armoured vehicle they were travelling in struck a mine between the towns of Gao and Menaka.
On 14 April 2018, JNIM militants launched an attack on a UN base in Timbuktu, wounding several French soldiers before being repelled by French, Malian and American troops. Four French soldiers were seriously wounded by a suicide car bomb attack against a joint French-Malian patrol in Gao on 1 July 2018. The attack, which heavily damaged a number of French VBCIs, also killed 4 civilians and seriously wounded 27 others.
On 22 February 2019, French forces backed by an armed reaper drone and a helicopter attacked a JNIM convoy killing 11 militants including senior leader Yahia Abou el Hamman in the Tombouctou Region of Mali. A militant improvised explosive device struck a French armoured vehicle carrying out an anti-terrorist operation in the Mopti Region on 2 April, killing one French soldier and seriously wounding another. Two French commandos of the Commandos Marine were killed on 9 May in the North of Burkina Faso during a rescue mission which successfully rescued four hostages, included two Frenchmen, and an  American and South Korean woman, who had been kidnapped by Islamists.
In mid-June 2019, a French Army Light Aviation Gazelle helicopter crashed in the border region between Mali and Niger after being fired upon by insurgent small arms fire. The two pilots and a special forces sniper were subsequently rescued by another helicopter after destroying the damaged helicopter. The French military base in Gao was assaulted by suicide bombers on 22 July in an attack that wounded 6 Estonian soldiers and a similar number of French personnel. A French soldier was killed on 2 November 2019 when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device during a patrol near Menaka in eastern Mali. French commandos launched a heli-borne raid later that month on an insurgent camp in Mali's eastern regions, which resulted in five insurgents killed and one French soldier being seriously injured.
On 25 November 2019, 13 French soldiers were killed in northern Mali when two French helicopters, a 'Tigre' and a 'Cougar', collided in mid-air while flying to reinforce soldiers engaged in combat with insurgents. The loss of 13 soldiers was the heaviest loss of life for the French military since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.
On 21 December 2019, the French military killed 40 militants in an operation in the Mopti Region of Mali. The area where the operation took place was controlled by Macina Liberation Front and it involved France's first ever use of a drone strike which accounted for 33 of the 40 killed insurgents.
The French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced in February 2020 that France would send an additional 600 troops to the Sahel region, bolstering Operation Barkhanes' force to 5,100 troops. The first contingent of these reinforcements was 200 French Foreign Legion paratroopers from the 2e REP who were transported to Niger and formed a battle group called Desert Tactical Grouping (GTD) "Altor". This battle group operated autonomously and without a base on the ground for over a month, receiving supplies only by airdrop. GTD Altor killed over a dozen insurgents and disrupted their logistics throughout their initial month-long operation.
Two legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) were seriously wounded when their vehicle struck an IED during operations against insurgents on 23 April 2020; one of the legionnaires subsequently died from his wounds. On 4 May 2020, a second legionnaire from the 1er REC was killed in action near Gao during 
Operation Barkhane