France's armed forces said today it had carried out a drone strike for the first time, during operations in Mali at the weekend.<br />''<br />''The Army said 40 terrorists were killed in this strike.<br />''<br />''In a statement, the French military command said, the drone strike happened during a follow-up operation Saturday in which another seven terrorists were killed.<br />''<br />''The strike came just two days after the French army announced it had finished testing the remotely-piloted drones for armed operations.<br />''<br />''<br />