French forces battling Islamist militants in northern Mali have taken a strategic airport near the Algerian border.
The French defense ministry said Friday that special forces have seized the airport at Tessalit, a small town in Mali's Kidal region, and are moving to secure the town itself with the help of Chadian troops.
The airport would give French-led forces another base in their fight against the militants, who have fled into the Sahara after losing control of northern Mali's major cities.
A French tank is seen heading north at the tail end of military convoy in Gao, February 6, 2013.x
A French tank is seen heading north at the tail end of military convoy in Gao, February 6, 2013.
Fighting continued elsewhere in Mali Friday. Outside the city of Gao, a suicide bomber driving a motorcycle blew himself up near a military checkpoint. One soldier was wounded in the blast.
A local journalist, Soumalia Maiga, ran to the scene as soon as he heard the explosion.
He says the explosion happened less than 10 meters from the checkpoint. He says people in the town are afraid to go to the market and some are even afraid to go to the mosque for Friday prayers. He says it is impossible to know whether the bomber was trying to hit the checkpoint or was trying to get inside the town.
The French news agency, AFP, reports that the Islamist group MUJAO claimed responsibility for the attack.
A soldier patrols near a burning road block outside the paratrooper camp, home of the former president's Red Beret presidential guard, in Bamako, February 8, 2013.x
A soldier patrols near a burning road block outside the paratrooper camp, home of the former president's Red Beret presidential guard, in Bamako, February 8, 2013.
In Mali's capital, Bamako, army soldiers opened fire on an elite paratroopers' camp. A military source tells VOA that one paratrooper was killed and at least six other people wounded.
The paratroopers, known as the Red Berets, were loyal to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure and had refused assignments to go to the north as part of regular army units.
Foreign Troop Commitments to Mali
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France 2,000 on the ground, 500 more committed
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Chad to send 2,000
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Nigeria to send 1,200
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Benin to send 650
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Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Togo have committed 500 each
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Guinea and Ghana are also sending troops
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France wants to begin handing over its four-week-old military operation to the Malian army and African forces. But officials say any transfer will have to wait until Mali's security situation stabilizes.
France has proposed the United Nations establish a peacekeeping mission in Mali. Diplomats have said privately that a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the mission is not likely before the end of February. It could take another two months after that to transition the African forces into U.N. peacekeepers.
The Mali crisis began in early 2012 when the Tuareg separatist group MNLA launched a rebellion in the north. The MNLA and Islamist militants seized control of the north after the March coup in Bamako, but the MNLA was soon swept aside as the militants imposed harsh Islamic law on the region.
At the request of Mali's government, French forces entered the country last month to drive back the al-Qaida-linked militants who had begun moving in the direction of the capital, Bamako.
Malian soldiers man a bridge at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali where a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed himself attempting to blow up an army checkpoint, Feb. 8, 2013.
Malian soldiers stand by a motorcycle used by a suicide bomber at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali, Feb. 8, 2013.
Malian soldiers inspect an explosive they found after residents notified authorities of suspicious bags left by radicals when they fled Gao, northern Mali, February 6, 2013.
A Malian man walks between doors of closed shops in Gao, northern Mali, February 5, 2013.
A child stands by his donkey cart, in Gao, northern Mali, February 5, 2013.
Men carry humanitarian food aid toward boats, Mopti, Mali, February 4, 2013.
A Malian woman looks at men carrying humanitarian food aid, Mopti, Mali, February 4, 2013.
Malian soldiers escort prisoners, who are suspected al-Qaida-allied fighters, in front of a military cell in Mopti, Mali, February 4, 2013.
A convoy of Malian troops on the road to Gao, northern Mali, February 4, 2013.
French President Francois Hollande holds hands with Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traoré in Timbuktu, Mali, February 2, 2013.
A man takes a close look at a burned-out truck in Timbuktu, Mali, January 31, 2013.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.