Operation Serval

Operation Serval
	Part of the Mali War and the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel
	; ; (Top) A French Dassault Rafale of squadron 2/92 "Aquitaine" refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Africa on 17 March 2013. (Bottom) French troops arriving in Bamako.
Date	11 January 2013 – 15 July 2014 (1 year, 6 months and 4 days)
Location	Mali
Result	Malian/French victory All major cities controlled by French and Malian troops.; France launched Operation Barkhane on 1 August 2014.;
Belligerents
France; Mali; Chad; Nigeria; Burkina Faso; Senegal; Togo; MNLA (latter part of conflict); AFISMA; Supported by:; Belgium; Canada; Denmark; Germany; Netherlands; Spain; Sweden; Poland; Australia; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States	Islamic militants MOJWA; AQIM; Ansar Dine; Boko Haram; Ansaru;
Commanders and leaders
François Hollande; ADM. Édouard Guillaud; Dioncounda Traoré (until 4 Sept. 2013); Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (from 4 Sept. 2013); Mahamat Déby Itno; Bilal Ag Acherif	Abdelhamid Abou Zeid †; Iyad ag Ghali; Omar Ould Hamaha † ; Mokhtar Belmokhtar; Abdel Krim †
Strength
4,000 French troops deployed (5,100 involved in total),; 2,900 AFISMA	Elements of: between 5,000 and 10,000 fighters (Ansar Dine); 1,000 fighters (AQIM); 500 fighters (MOJWA);
Casualties and losses
9 killed; 1 Gazelle helicopter lost; 82 killed; 38 killed; 17 killed, 60 wounded; 2 killed; 1 killed; 1 killed; 2 killed	Between 600 and 1,000 killed; 50 vehicles destroyed, 150 tons of ammunitions and 200 weapons seized, 60 IEDs defused; 109-300 captured

Operation Serval (French: Opération Serval) was a French military operation in Mali. The aim of the operation was to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the center of Mali.

Operation Serval followed the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2085 of 20 December 2012 and an official request by the Malian interim government for French military assistance. The operation ended on 15 July 2014, and was replaced by Operation Barkhane, launched on 1 August 2014 to fight Islamist fighters in the Sahel. Three of the five Islamic leaders, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, Abdel Krim and Omar Ould Hamaha were killed, while Mokhtar Belmokhtar fled to Libya and Iyad ag Ghali fled to Algeria.

The operation is named after the serval, a medium-sized African wild cat.

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