France says it now has nearly 800 troops on Malian soil -- and Nigeria
promises 700 more -- as forces help the Malian military's efforts to win
control from Islamist militants.
FULL STORY
- Mali rebels: Airstrikes have hurt
- Kouchner: France 'obliged' to help
- What's behind the instability in Mali?
France to send more troops to join Mali offensive
January 15, 2013 -- Updated 1435 GMT (2235 HKT)Kouchner: France 'obliged' to help Mali
(CNN) -- France now has nearly 800 troops on Malian soil, the French Defense Ministry said Tuesday, as its forces seek to bolster the Malian military's efforts to wrest control from Islamist militants.STORY HIGHLIGHTS- NEW: Nigeria says it's sending 190 troops in the next 24 hours, with 700 more in coming days
- France now has nearly 800 troops on the ground, the French Defense Ministry says
- Regional defense chiefs meet in Mali's capital to discuss military options
- World and regional powers are concerned about the advance of Islamist militants
President Francois Hollande, speaking on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, said the number of French troops deployed would increase "so that France can make way as quickly as possible" for African forces.New airstrikes overnight "achieved their objective" in the area of Diabaly, a town seized by rebel forces Monday as they push south into government-held territory, Hollande said.Nearly 1,700 French troops are involved in the Mali offensive, with several hundred deployed from French military bases across the region, the Defense Ministry said.U.S. helps France fight African Islamists
U.S. and the war in Mali
Rebels in Mali admit airstrikes have hurt
Photos: Mali military braces against Islamist insurgents
Forty French armored vehicles arrived in the capital, Bamako, overnight from Ivory Coast, CNN affiliate BFM-TV reported.Defense chiefs from the members of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS are meeting Tuesday in Bamako to discuss military options, said a spokesman for the bloc, Sunny Ugoh.Ministers will meet Friday to finalize plans that will then be presented to the heads of state Saturday in Ivory Coast, he said.Word of the rebel advance on Diabaly on Monday came as the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the conflict in Mali, where Islamist rebels have been seizing territory for months.Leaders from a number of countries, including the United States, have said they'll send troops or provide logistical support for the fight against Islamist militants in the West African nation.Col. Mohammed Yerima, a spokesman for the Nigerian army, told CNN that 190 of its soldiers would arrive in Mali within 24 hours.In total, Nigeria will deploy 900 soldiers -- slightly more than a full battalion -- within the next 10 days, as part of a U.N.-mandated African force to fight the insurgents in Mali, he said.Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Senegal and Benin are also among the countries that have pledged to send troops, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters Monday.Mali's northern neighbor, Algeria, will close its border with Mali, said Algeria's state news agency, Algeria Press Service.A spokesman for Germany's Foreign Ministry said the country's leaders were considering offering medical, logistical and humanitarian aid to Mali.Two British military transport aircraft have been assigned to help with the French troop deployment, but no British forces will be in a combat role, the UK Foreign Office said.The United Nations said preparations are under way for a U.N. multidisciplinary team to go to Bamako soon.The United States has promised to help the French effort, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday. That assistance could include logistical and intelligence support."I commend France for taking the steps that it has. And what we have promised them is that we will work with them to cooperate with them and to provide whatever assistance we can to try to help them in that effort," he told reporters on his plane en route to Portugal.The United States has shared intelligence from satellites and intercepted signals with the French, defense officials said Monday.In addition, the Pentagon is considering sending refueling tankers so that French jets can fly longer, more sustained combat missions, according to the officials.Drones "are under consideration," the defense officials said, though the military's stash of unmanned aerial vehicles is in heavy demand.Both stressed that these would be surveillance drones and said there are no plans yet to deploy them.U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, meanwhile, said the United States is reviewing requests from the French, but no decisions have been made.The United States, she said, is "not in the position to support the Malian military directly until we have democratic processes restored by way of an election in Mali."France took the international lead in assisting Mali over the weekend, with military airstrikes targeting rebel training camps and other targets.Officials said France's intervention, which began Friday, was necessary to stop a rebel takeover of the capital."Our assessment was that they (the rebels) were actually able to take Bamako. So we decided that what was at stake was the existence of the state of Mali, and beyond Mali was the stability of all West Africa," said Gerard Araud, French ambassador to the United Nations. "We had no other choice to launch this military intervention."It was unclear Monday when France's role in the military offensive would end, and whether there could be consequences beyond Mali's borders.The U.N. Security Council last month authorized a one-year military peacekeeping mission in the country. Members of ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, pledged thousands of troops, and the Security Council has urged other nations to contribute forces as well.The Security Council met Monday to receive an update on Mali. After that meeting, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said there may be a need for a new Security Council resolution.A French colony until 1960, Mali had military rulers for decades until its first democratic elections in 1992. It remained stable politically until March, when a group of soldiers toppled the government, saying it had not provided adequate support for them to fight ethnic Tuareg rebels in the country's largely desert north.Tuareg rebels, who'd sought independence for decades, took advantage of the power vacuum and seized swaths of land. A power struggle then erupted in the north between the Tuaregs and local al Qaeda-linked radicals, who wound up in control of a large area as the Tuaregs retreated.The United Nations says amputations, floggings and public executions -- like the July stoning of a couple who had reportedly had an affair -- have become common in areas controlled by radical Islamists. They applied a strict interpretation of Sharia law in banning music, smoking, drinking and watching sports on television, and damaged Timbuktu's historic tombs and shrines.CNN's Antonia Mortensen contributed to this report.COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
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