A branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deaths of French soldiers

Fighters from a group linked to the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the helicopter crash that killed 13 French soldiers in Mali.

The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara group issued a statement claiming responsibility nearly three days after the accident.

Thirteen French soldiers were killed in a collision between two helicopters during a combat operation against jihadists in Mali near the border with Niger.

After the accident, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, paid tribute to the soldiers who died for France during the fierce fight against terrorism in the Sahel region, it was stated in the statement of the French presidency.

An investigation has been opened into the cause of the collision.

French President Macron has announced that he will review the French mission in sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel.

"Our mission there is important, but what we are going through now in the Sahel leads us to consider all strategic options," Macron said today after a meeting with the Secretary General of the Alliance in Paris.

He said the French government and the French armed forces would discuss the issue in the coming weeks.

Macron this Sunday defended France's largest overseas mission, which includes 4.500 troops, saying it was aimed at strengthening France's security and providing support to African countries.

A UN peacekeeping mission has been in Mali since 2013. Simultaneously with this mission, since 2013, France has been leading a military operation with the help of the armed forces of Mali against the fighting groups of extremist organizations that have taken over the areas in the north of that country.

A national commemoration for the death of French soldiers will be held on Monday in Paris.