France in ‘direct combat’ in Mali within hours
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French troops in two armored personnel carriers droce through Mali's capital Bamako on the road to Mopti on Tuesday. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp.
PARIS » France’s military chief of staff says French forces will be in direct combat with Islamist militants in Mali “within hours.”
Adm. Edouard Guillaud said Wednesday that French ground operations began overnight in Mali, a West African former French colony where militants linked to al-Qaida have gained territory since seizing control of the country’s north earlier this year. Some fear more Islamist gains would turn the region into a launching pad for terrorist attacks on the West.
The move reversed France’s earlier insistence that it would provide only air and logistical support for a military intervention led by African troops.
“Now we’re on the ground,” Guillaud said. “We will be in direct combat within hours.”
