Africa, France | featured news

French forces launch one of their biggest offensives against militants in northern Mali before the start of their troop withdrawal later this month.

Donors need to pour aid into Mali over the next six months to rebuild its strife-hit north and stop defeated militants taking advantage of the chaos to return, France's development minister said on Tuesday.

A major al-Qaeda base has been dismantled by French forces in the remote mountains of northern Mali, France's Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says.

The US has deployed 100 troops to Niger to assist French forces in neighbouring Mali, President Barack Obama says.

As jihadists start an insurgency in Mali, US officials say France should stay in the lead.

French-backed Malian troops searched house-to-house in Gao and Timbuktu on Tuesday uncovering arms and explosives abandoned by Islamist fighters, and France said it would look to hand over longer-term security operations in Mali to an African force.

International backing for French forces battling Islamist militants in Mali gathered momentum Tuesday, as U.S. military aircraft flew French troops and supplies into the African nation and Italy's lawmakers voted to lend support.

France called on Saturday on other world powers to commit money and logistical support for African armies readying their troops to join French soldiers already battling al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali.

Within the past few days, French combat forces have deployed to the West African state of Mali to halt the advance of militant Islamist fighters toward the capital and to help the Malian army begin to reclaim towns previously occupied by the militants.

France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the specter of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes.