26-year-old French Paratroop Corporal Cédric Charenton was killed in action during operations in Mali on 2nd March 2013. Cpl. Charenton had previously served in Afghanistan. He is the third French soldier to die in Mali during the current operation.
The incident happened as French and Chadian troops assaulted enemy positions in the Ametettai Valley - about 50 miles from Tessalit. During the assault, 12 insurgents were killed, several vehicles destroyed and three large caches of weapons and explosives were discovered and seized by French Forces.
Cpl. Charenton, who served with the elite Airborne Infantry 1st Regiment, was hit by small-arms fire. He had previously served in New Caledonia and Gabon, as well as Afghanistan.
French Foreign Legion Sergeant Harold Vormezeele, a veteran of three tours in Afghanistan, was killed in action during an operation in Mali on 19th February 2013.
Sgt. Vormezeele, born in Belgium in 1979, had served with the Foreign Legion for almost 14 years.
His unit, 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2REP), parachuted in to Timbuktu on 27th January this year. On 19th February, Sgt. Vormezeele was part of an armoured patrol, 50km south of Tessalit, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. During this engagement, he was fatally wounded.
He served in Afghanistan in 2008, 2010 and 2011. He had also previously served in Bosnia, Gabon, Djibouti, Cote d'Ivoire and the Central African Republic and had been awarded four Cross of Military Valour medals during his career.
26-year-old French Paratroop Corporal Cédric Charenton was killed in action during operations in Mali on 2nd March 2013. Cpl. Charenton had previously served in Afghanistan. He is the third French soldier to die in Mali during the current operation.
