By Jaime Ortega.
The number of French soldiers in Mali will start to decline “in March, if all goes as planned,” said the head of French diplomacy, Laurent Fabius, in an interview with Metro newspaper to be published on Wednesday.
“We will continue to act in the north, where there are terrorist outbreaks,” and added that, “France does not intend to remain permanently in Mali.”
Fabius acknowledge that Malians, need to be “guarantors of security” and territorial integrity.
“We will gradually move over to the Misma” an African military mission. The African army must ultimately include about 6,000 soldiers, and only 2,000 are already in Mali. A separate quota from the 2,000 Chadians already fully deployed.
Keep your eyes open:
“The first phase of the operation was conducted effectively in order to block terrorist groups and conquer the northern cities,” said Fabius.
“The narco-terrorist groups were stopped by the air strikes., But they can still produce individual actions. And we should be on guard. Everyone should keep in mind that the risk is always present,” Fabius said.
France launched its military operation in Mali, in January 11, to block an attack south of armed Islamist groups who controlled the north of the country for over nine months.
Since then, the major northern cities, Gao and Timbuktu were taken. French soldiers control the airport while the city itself is “secure” by some 1,800 Chadian soldiers, according to sources in Paris.
Dead Islamist:
For the first time, the French authorities gave Tuesday gave an accurate review of air strikes and fights between French troops and Islamists in Mali.
Hundreds of Islamist fighters have been killed in more than three weeks of military intervention. The Ministry of Defence, however, refused to give the exact figure, with some fearing a macabre count.
The defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, had previously stated that French troops had inflicted “great damage to jihadist terrorist groups,” citing “several hundred, a significant number” of Islamist fighters killed.
Mr Le Drian also stated that French forces had one fatal casualty. The helicopter pilot killed in the early hours of the intervention, and “two or three wounded without showing critical conditions.”
Prisoners arrested:
“There are some prisoners taken by the Malian army, not many, which will be trialed in Malian courts and international justice,” Fabius said.
When asked if any high ranked prisoners were captured, he said, “Some.”
According to other reliable sources, a senior of Ansar Eddine an Islamist network, who worked for months northern Mali, was arrested last weekend near the Algerian border by an “armed group”.
