Candles are lit up to commemorate victims of the terrorist attack against Charlie Hebdo in 2015 during a commemoration at the Place of the Republic in Paris, France, on Jan. 7, 2016. Photo: Xinhua

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Sunday defended itself following outrage over cartoons about a deadly military helicopter crash in Mali.

The magazine, which was itself the target of a devastating attack by Islamic extremists in January 2015, published the cartoons on its website.

The French army's chief of staff General Thierry Burkhard expressed his "indignation" at the cartoons in response to last week's deaths.

But Charlie Hebdo's editor Laurent "Riss" Sourisseau defended the magazines' "satirical spirit" on Sunday.

The soldiers died last Monday when the two military helicopters in which they were traveling collided and crashed during a night-time operation in Mali against jihadists.

AFP