Mali: France pledges 'short' campaign against Islamists

[Haia]

French fighter jets have been hitting targets in northern Mali since Friday


French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said that France's involvement in the campaign against Islamist rebels in Mali will last "a matter of weeks".
On Sunday, French warplanes bombed the town of Gao in eastern Mali, extending their raids deep into rebel territory.
France's military has been in action against Islamist militants in Mali since Friday, helping government forces recapture the central town of Konna.
France has called a meeting of the UN Security Council on Mali for Monday.
Speaking to French media, Mr Fabius rejected any parallel with the protracted Western mission in Afghanistan.
"Later on, we can come as back-up, but we have no intention of staying forever," he said.
Mr Fabius said that had France not intervened, there was a risk that the Islamists could have advanced as far as the capital, Bamako, with "appalling consequences"
The French intervention had succeeded in stopping their advance towards the south, he added.
A Malian army officer said on Saturday he believed more than 100 militants had been killed.
Since the start of the French intervention on Friday, at least 11 Malian soldiers and a French helicopter pilot have died.
Human Rights Watch believes 10 civilians, including three children, died in Konna as Malian forces fought to recapture the town.
Surprise move
Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize northern Mali in April 2012.
But the Islamists soon took control of the region's major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.
One Islamist group, Ansar Dine, began pushing further south last week, seizing the strategically important town of Konna.
The town has since been recaptured by Malian troops with French aerial support.
Islamist militants seized control of northern Mali last year (file photo)
France's decision to intervene in its former colony took many by surprise.
A UN-backed international force from countries in Ecowas, the West African regional bloc, had not been expected until the autumn.
However, Mr Fabius said that "terrorists" had taken advantage of this delay to attack, prompting Mali's interim president to ask for French intervention.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said four Rafale fighter jets, flying from their base in France, had attacked and destroyed rebel training camps and logistics depots in Gao, which acted as back-up bases for terrorist groups.
For months, Gao has been in the hands of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), which along with Ansar Dine has sought to enforce an extreme interpretation of Islamic law in northern Mali.
The town is around 500km (310 miles) north-east of a de facto line dividing the rebel-held north of Mali from the government-run south.
Offensive expected An unnamed Elysee Palace official quoted by AFP said on Sunday that French armed forces had been surprised by the fighting quality and the equipment of the militants they were up against.
BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says it seems clear that French air power is now preparing the ground for a much bigger offensive against the Islamists.

[Mary Naeem]

Thanks Haia