Following the directive by President Goodluck Jonathan to the Nigerian Armed Forces to commence the deployment of 900 troops to participate in the military operation to liberate Mali from Islamist rebels, the Nigerian Air Force, yesterday, commenced moves to deploy two of its fighter aircraft and a transport aircraft for the French army Operation Serval in Mali.
Saturday, January 19, 2013, 03:25 PM

French armed forces continue to protect the capital Bamako. Combat and reconnaissance units have been deployed on each side of the Niger River, to prevent the progression of Islamist rebels. Finally, the Malian armed forces pushed back the Islamist rebels from the city of Konna and control the locality.
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Saturday, January 19, 2013, 09:42 AM

French troops’ initial clashes with Islamist militants in Mali have shown that the desert fighters are better trained and equipped than France had anticipated before last week’s military intervention, French and other U.N. diplomats said.
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Friday, January 18, 2013, 09:06 PM

One infantry motorized unit of the French Army is now deployed in Markala to stop the progression of the Islamist rebels toward the capital Bamako. Other French troops are still in Bamako ready to be deployed for combat missions.
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Friday, January 18, 2013, 08:50 AM

The French fighters aircraft continue their air strikes in Mali and more land forces are sent to Bamako. During the night of Tuesday, January 16, 2013, French troops with armoured vehicles, ERC 90 Sagaie, VAB and VBL were deployed north of Bamako. Wednesday, helicopters and fighters aircraft continued their attacks in the region near the city of Diabali, destroying a dozen of targets.
Thursday, January 17, 2013, 08:00 AM

Clash erupted between Al-Qaida- linked rebels and the Malian and French ground troops in Diabaly, 400 km from the capital Bamako, after they were surrounded, a security source told on Wednesday, January 16, 2013. Al-Qaida's North African branch AQIM briefly seized Diabaly on Monday, January 14, in a counter-attack launched from the west along the Mali- Mauritania border.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 04:38 PM

French Army Special Forces soldiers drive through the town of Markala, about 275 km from the capital Bamako, January 15, 2013, to meet Malian soldiers and organize a counter-attack in the jihadist-held town of Diabaly.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 10:52 AM

French army armoured vehicles are heading from the Malian capital Bamako under the cover of darkness towards the north of the country, to target areas currently under the control of islamist rebels. Since January 14, the French combat aircraft (Rafale, Mirage F1 CR and Mirage 2000D) conducted eight missions against a dozen targets around the town of Diabali. They were refueled by military aircraft C135F.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 09:00 AM

Since the night of January 13, 2013, the French Armed Forces in Mali continued its bombing raids with a total of 20 air missions with Mirage 2000D and Rafale fighter aircraft stationed in N'Djamena, Chad. These operations have enabled the attack of a dozen targets primarily on the cities of Diabali and Douenza.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 03:10 PM

A column of about 30 French army tanks and several troop carriers, accompanied by a helicopter, crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast in an international mission to take control of the African nation’s north from Islamist extremists, French media reported Monday night, January 14, 2013.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 11:59 AM

The Pentagon is preparing to provide military support to French forces in their new fight against rebel militants in northern Mali, according to senior defense officials. The United States is considering a range of options to help, including sending cargo aircrafts to lift more French ground troops into Mali, providing air refueling tankers for French air combat patrols, and offering intelligence gleaned from aerial surveillance.
Monday, January 14, 2013, 09:23 PM

French Rafale fighters destroyed multiple targets in northeastern Mali near Gao January 13, 2013, striking rebel-held training camps and logistics depots. Four Dassault-built multirole combat aircraft took off from Saint-Dizier in northeastern France Sunday to reinforce French support for Malian forces fighting an advance by Islamist separatists on the central town of Konna.
Sunday, January 13, 2013, 02:54 PM

French fighter jets Mirage 2000D on Saturday, January 12, 2013, stepped up air raids against Malian rebels in the assistance of the former French colony's government as neighboring West African nations also got prepared to send troops.
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Sunday, January 13, 2013, 01:56 PM

The French army operation Serval began on Friday, January 11, 2013 when Mali appealed to France, the former colonial power in the region, for help after hostile forces surged toward the town of Mopti, a regional capital. The operation began on 11 January 2013 with French Army Aviation Gazelle SA342 light combat helicopters armed with 20 mm cannons and HOT anti-tank missile.
Saturday, January 12, 2013, 09:17 AM