Malian Army Takes Town of Konna

After 48-hour battle

Mali's army said it secured the central town of Konna three days after French fighter jets drove out Islamist rebels, as West African soldiers arrived to join the war in the desert north.

The battle for Konna lasted almost 48 hours, Colonel Didier Dakouo, the head of the central Sevare military base, said on state-owned Office de Radio Diffusion Télévision du Mali yesterday. The town's fall into rebel hands last week triggered the French intervention.