海角大神

French special forces in聽聽with air support on Saturday seized the airport and a key bridge over the Niger River at the聽听谤别产别濒-丑别濒诲听听补蝉听聽accelerated its ground offensive against al Qaeda-allied fighters.

"The rebels have melted in to the local population. There is harassment. The operation is still under way. It is a bit complicated," a French officer in聽, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, referring to the assault on Gao.

's Defence Minister聽聽announced the seizure of the airport and bridge at Gao, the largest town in聽's Saharan north which was occupied last year by a coalition of聽聽groups including al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM.

's defence ministry initially gave few details of the operation at Gao, but there were unconfirmed reports from Malian sources that it involved French paratroops.

The French officer said the attacking French forces were facing "harassment" attacks but no solid line of resistance.

The speed of the French action at Gao suggested French and Malian governmnent troops intended to drive aggressively into the north of聽聽in the next few days against other聽聽rebel-held towns, such as Timbuktu and Kidal.

For two weeks, French jets and helicopter gunships have been harrying the retreating Islamists, destroying their vehicles, command posts and weapons depots. The French action had already halted a sudden聽聽offensive launched in early January that had threatened聽's southern capital Bamako.

A French defence ministry statement quoted minister Le Drian as saying that many of the聽聽fighters' vehicles and logistics bases had been destroyed.

News that the French forces were at Gao came as African states struggled to deploy a planned 6,000-strong African intervention force in聽, known as AFISMA, under a U.N. mandate.

聽leaders meeting at a summit in聽聽were calling on the聽聽to provide emergency logistics and funding to allow the AFISMA force to deploy.

AU officials say AFISMA is severely hampered by logistical shortages and needs airlift support, ammunition, telecoms equipment, field hospitals, food and water. It also required training to operate in聽's desert and arid mountains.

So far, only around 1,200 soldiers of the African force, to be mostly comprised of troops from neighbouring West African nations, have arrived in聽.

In contrast,听聽has 2,500 soldiers already on the ground in its former colony, taking the lead in the offensive against the聽听驳谤辞耻辫蝉.

罢丑别听听补苍诲听聽strongly back the U.N.-mandated聽聽operation as a counterstrike against the threat of radical聽聽jihadists using the country's inhospitable Saharan north as a launch pad for international terrorist attacks.

But Washington 补苍诲听聽governments, while providing airlift and intelligence support to the operation, are not planning to send in any combat troops.

Reporting by James Regan in Paris, Richard Valdmanis in聽,听听补苍诲 David Lewis in Dakar; Writing by Pascal Fletcher