on january 26, gao airport and wabaria bridge were under control. however, the city, located 6 kilometers from the airport, is not immediately attacked. throughout the day of january 26, special forces soldiers and paratroopers camp on their positions. however, jihadists are still present in the area, gunshots and explosions occasionally break out. meanwhile, the franco-malian column set in motion and advance on gao. the french were commanded by a battalion commander of the 3rd marine infantry parachute regiment ( 3rd rpima) and the malians by colonel major didier dacko. on january 26, around 6 o'clock in the morning, the first elements of the column make their junction at douentza with the 466 men of colonel samake. the malians and the french continue their route for 400 kilometers and finally reach the wabaria bridge on january 27 at around 3 am. reinforcements take over from cos forces. after two hours of rest, the soldiers cross the bridge and connect with the parachute fighters stationed at the airport. the malian special forces and the french armor then enter the morning in the city of gao , abandoned by the jihadists. the malian and french soldiers are welcomed as liberators by the population of gao. however in the following days acts of revenge are committed by residents, especially against tuareg and arabs. looting is taking place and people suspected of being close to mujao have been injured or arrested. the men of mujao abandon gao, but in the evening, around 22 hours, two pickups are spotted and attacked north of the city by a tiger helicopter from ouagadougou. the two vehicles are destroyed and their 10 occupants are killed according to colonel thierry burkhard, spokesman for the french general staff. but according to jean-christophe notin , the number of jihadists killed is more precisely 13.