French soldiers in Mali: "These jihadists are there to die"

Tell them fighting and their eyes trun vague. For twelve days of fierce battle, the 2nd REP legionnaires (Foreign Parachute Regiment) mounted at the front in the rough mountains of the Adrar des Iforas in northern Mali to flush out Islamist AQIM ( Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). "We found ourselves facing an army trained and very clever," says Captain Clement.
In the lunar landscape of the valley Ametteta under a blazing sun, the soldiers conducted harsh combat. Sometimes within 3 m of their enemies, almost hand-to-hand combat. "We had not seen that from Algeria, said Gen. Bernard Barrera, the tactical commander of the operation Serval. In front of us the enemies agreed contact and rode into battle. "" In Afghanistan, it was very different compared Captain Clement. The Taliban often drop their weapons to blend in with the population and reappear under the disguise of a shepherd. Here, we fought against real warriors, able to develop a strategy and ambushes. They do not defiled, quite the contrary. " "They had food on them and also how to commit suicide"
http://www.leparisien.fr/internation...13-2678081.php

Becareful: google translate can be... weird at the best
Also there is a video but for French speakers only