French Troops Now in Mali to Support Government
Tryng to block an Islamist victory
French troops have joined the Malian military in its fight to stop Islamist fighters from extending their reach into central Mali, President Francois Hollande said in a statement Friday.
Mali pleaded for French help Thursday after the strategic city of Konna fell to Islamist extremists, dealing a serious blow to the military and threatening a nearby airport. Reports quickly emerged Friday that French muscle was aiding in the push to eject rebels from Konna.
Hours after announcing that France "will be ready to stop the terrorists' advance, if it continues," Hollande confirmed to reporters that French troops were supporting Malian units and would do so "as long as is necessary," Agence France-Presse reported.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?