Operation Serval - France Goes to War in Mali

How France Fought a Lightning War in Mali (Op Serval)
Battle Order
This is a pretty good film and a nice story. Trouble shows up in Mali (Western Africa) and the French go in to put a stop to it. They send a small force (4,500 troops), they are there for a few months, and they dealt with the problem. Who knows how long things will remain calm.
     Mali is where you find Timbuktu, which should tell you something about the place. I was surprised to find that anyone thought there was anything there worth fighting over. 

I found a few things worth noting in the original film. I don't know if any of them show up in the new one:

• the temperature: at times it reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit (8 minute mark).
• the amount of gear the French troops were carrying (in excess of 100 pounds).
• Wild camels (18 minute mark).
• the amount of water you need to support a military force in the Sahara desert. 20 tons of water every day. (20 x 2000 / 4500 = 2 gallons per man).
• the amount of munitions they recovered from secret caches in the middle of nowhere. Literally tons of arms and ammunition. It was like the Jihadists were planning a war. (20 & 43 minute marks.)

Update July 2016 replaced missing video.

Update July 2023 replaced missing video with a different video on the same subject.