France sent troops to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali earlier this year
French, Malian and UN forces have launched a "large-scale" operation in Mali, France's military says.
Spokesman Col Gilles Jaron told the AFP news agency that
several hundred French soldiers were involved in the mission in the
north of the country.
It was aimed at preventing a resurgence of "terrorist movements", he added.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomb attack on a UN Stabilisation
Mission in Mali (Minusma) base in Tessalit killed civilians and two
Chadian peacekeepers.
The UN Security Council stressed that those responsible would be held accountable and reiterated its support for Minusma.
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Lt-Col Souleymane Maiga Malian armyIt's an operation to sweep identified areas in the three northern regions... It will last as long as is needed”
The Malian leader of a splinter
group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Sultan Ould Bady, said it had
attacked the base because the Chadians were "working for France".
France sent troops to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali in January.
The rebels were quickly pushed back from the main urban
centres. Some retreated to hideouts in the mountains and desert, from
where they launch occasional attacks.
'Stabilisation'
Col Jaron of the French military's general staff said the
operation - called "Hydra" - was "the first time we have seen forces of
significant size working together" in Mali.
Its goal was to "put pressure on any terrorist movement to avoid their resurgence", he added.
The colonel stressed that the mission was not linked to any recent attack.
"This is one those operations that are conducted regularly... to participate in the stabilisation of the country," he explained.
He did not say when the operation started or on which areas it
was focused, nor provide exact numbers or details on the forces taking
part.
A spokesman for the Malian army, Lt-Col Souleymane Maiga told
the Reuters news agency: "It's an operation to sweep identified areas
in the three northern regions [Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal]. It will last as
long as is needed."
BBC Africa analyst Mamadou Moussa Ba says this is the first
time French troops have publicly been involved in operations against
Islamist militants in Mali for several months.
France has 3,200 soldiers in the country but plans to reduce
the force to 1,000 by February, several months later than originally
planned.
It handed over responsibility for security to Minusma in
July. However, the UN force has less than half of its mandated strength
of more than 12,000 military personnel and has appealed for
reinforcements.
SOURCE: BBC
