Posted on 02/05/2013 6:07:31 PM PST by the scotsman
'"Several hundred" Islamist militants have been killed since France launched an offensive in Mali last month, the French defence minister has said.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said they had been killed in airstrikes and direct combat with French troops. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said that France may begin pulling out of Mali as early as March.
In a newspaper interview, he said that "if everything goes as planned, the number of troops should diminish".
France has an estimated 4,000 troops in Mali and officials from multilateral institutions and dozens of countries have been meeting in Brussels to discuss how to replace them. The defence minister said the last major town in northern Mali to remain in the hands of the rebels, Kidal, was now under French control.
Air attacks are continuing on suspected rebel hideouts north of the town.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
NOT ENOUGH! NOT ENOUGH!!
Excellent news.
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