in 2006
Mistral began
sea trials in January 2005, and was
commissioned in February 2006. She departed from
Toulon for her first long-range journey in March, sailing through the
Mediterranean Sea,
Suez Canal, and the
Red Sea to Djibouti and India, before returning to France. In July, to ensure the safety of European citizens in the context of the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, France set up
Opération Baliste.
Mistral was the flagship of the fleet unit off Lebanon, escorted by the frigates and , and along with another amphibious assault ship, . On 16 May 2008, the Burmese
United Nations (UN) ambassador accused France of deploying
Mistral to the Burmese coast for military purposes. The French UN ambassador denied this, stating that she was instead carrying 1,500 tons of relief supplies. In March 2011
Mistral was deployed to Libyan waters to help aid the joint
NATO effort to repatriate tens of thousands of Egyptian refugees fleeing the violence in Libya. In January 2013, escorted by ,
Mistral took part in the ill-fated
operation to retrieve Denis Allex, a
DGSE officer held hostage in
Bulo Marer. On 22 May 2022,
Mistral, operating in the
Gulf of Guinea in conjunction with the , , was involved in the seizure of almost two tons of drugs. ==References==