French Defense Minister Lecorps Nou criticized the depiction of French mercenaries in Marvel Comics film Panther 2: Long Live Kanda on Twitter on the 12th. Bloomberg said that this belated tweet highlighted the plight of France in the Sahel.
Bloomberg reported that Lecorps Nu wrote when commenting on a movie clip released by a reporter, “I firmly condemn this false and deceptive description of our armed forces.” He also said, “I recall 58 French soldiers who died at the request of Mali to fight Islamic terrorists and have respect for them.”
According to Bloomberg, “Panther 2: Long Live Wa Kanda” premiered last November, in which French mercenaries were caught stealing resources in the fictional African country of Wa Kanda. A reporter pointed out on Twitter that the uniforms of the soldiers in the film are similar to the French “Crescent Dune” operation in Mali. Bloomberg said this prompted Lecorps Nu to respond.
French Defense Minister criticized Panther 2 for smearing the image of French soldiers. Foreign media: the first picture that highlights the method in a non-predicament.
The screenshot of the movie clip of Panther 2 released by the reporter on Twitter comments on Lecornu.
According to Bloomberg, France also mentioned the official and said that if there is misunderstanding, Lecorps Nu has the responsibility to stand up for the French armed forces.
Since August 2014, France has launched the “Crescent Dune” military operation in the Sahel region, sending thousands of soldiers to cooperate with regional countries Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger to fight terrorist organizations. In June, 2021, Macron announced that France would significantly reduce its deployment in the Sahel, and instead focus on supporting the local army’s anti-terrorism operations. In February, 2022, Macron announced that it had begun to withdraw French military forces involved in anti-terrorism operations from Mali. In mid-August of the same year, the French military announced that all French troops had withdrawn from Mali. On November 9, 2022, French President Macron announced in the southern French city of Toulon that France had officially ended the “Crescent Dune” operation in the Sahel region of Africa since 2014.
Some French media analysts pointed out that Macron’s decision was related to the tension between France and Mali. In January this year, the transitional government of Mali condemned the unfriendly remarks made by the then French Foreign Minister Le Drian, and asked the French ambassador to Mali to leave the country within 72 hours. The French Foreign Ministry immediately said that in response, France decided to recall its ambassador to Mali.