TWO French soldiers were killed in Mali yesterday when their armoured vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.

“It is with great sorrow that the President of the Republic learned of the death in combat of two soldiers from first regiment of Valencia, killed this morning,” the Elysee Palace stated.

France currently has 4,000 soldiers in the north African country, having deployed troops in 2013 to fight Islamist militants amid an uprising by the Tuareg people.