18 January 2013 Last updated at 05:44 ET
Mali's army has struggled to take on the rebels who are believed to be well armed
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Mali: Divided nation[/h]
Mali's army has recaptured Konna after Islamist rebels fled, the military and residents in the strategically important central town have said.
France began its intervention in Mali a week ago because of the rebel takeover of the town north of the capital.
Earlier this week, French officials denied a claim by the Malian army that the government had regained Konna.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has said it will increase to 1,200 its troops in the West African force deploying in Mali.
About 100 Togolese and Nigerian soldiers landed in the capital, Bamako, on Thursday - the first of the long-planned West African force that will join the French and Malian armies in fighting the Islamist insurgents that took over northern Mali last year.
On Thursday, France said it was increasing its troop strength to 1,400 after intervening initially with air strikes to try and halt a rapid advance by the Islamists.
Correspondents say a strong contingent of the French are at Segou, north-east of Bamako, to guard a major bridge across the Niger river, which the rebels would have to cross to threaten the capital.
'Street fighting'Bamako-based journalist Kodji Siby told BBC Africa that he had spoken to residents in Konna, about 550km (340 miles) north of Bamako, who said the Islamists fled the town when Malian soldiers deployed.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Foreign forces in Mali[/h]
"We have wrested total control of Konna after inflicting heavy losses on the enemy," the AFP news agency quoted a Malian army statement as saying.
The area is not accessible to independent observers and the aid group Doctors Without Borders told the Associated Press it had been trying to get to Konna since Monday but all roads leading to the area were closed by the Malian military.
On Thursday, French forces were bombarding the town of Diabaly, 350km from capital, which was captured by Islamists earlier in the week.
There was fighting on the streets until 03:00 GMT on Friday, Diabaly Mayor Oumar Diakite said from nearby Niono.
In total, 3,300 regional troops will be deployed in the conflict under a UN Security Council resolution.
Defence sources say France is likely to boost its troop numbers to 2,500.
Nigeria will lead the West African force, with Chad, Benin, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo also sending soldiers.
Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize northern Mali in April 2012. But the Islamists soon took control of the region's major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.
The battle for Mali
French forces have bombed rebel bases in Mali, where Islamist rebels have threatened to advance on the capital Bamako from their strongholds in the north. France said it had decided to act to stop the offensive, which could create "a terrorist state at the doorstep of France and Europe".
The landlocked area of West Africa was the core of ancient empires going back to the 4th Century. The French colonised Mali, then known as French Sudan, at the end of the 19th Century, while Islamic religious wars created theocratic states in the region.
Mali gained independence in 1960 but endured droughts, rebellions and 23 years of military dictatorship until democratic elections in 1992. In the early 1990s, the nomadic Tuareg of the north began an insurgency over land and cultural rights.
The insurgency gathered momentum in 2007, and was exacerbated by an influx of arms from the 2011 Libyan civil war. Tuareg nationalists, alongside Islamist groups with links to al-Qaeda, seized control of the north in 2012 after a military coup by soldiers frustrated by government efforts against the rebels.
The fighting in the north and the establishment of a harsh form of Islamic law has forced thousands to flee their homes - some estimates say more than half the northern population has fled south or across borders into neighbouring countries.
In January 2013, the Islamists captured the central city of Konna. France, responding to appeals for help from the Mali president, has sent about 550 troops to the Mopti and to Bamako, which is home to about 6,000 French nationals. French jets have also launched air strikes.
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Continue reading the main story[h=2]Mali: Divided nation[/h]
Mali's army has recaptured Konna after Islamist rebels fled, the military and residents in the strategically important central town have said.
France began its intervention in Mali a week ago because of the rebel takeover of the town north of the capital.
Earlier this week, French officials denied a claim by the Malian army that the government had regained Konna.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has said it will increase to 1,200 its troops in the West African force deploying in Mali.
About 100 Togolese and Nigerian soldiers landed in the capital, Bamako, on Thursday - the first of the long-planned West African force that will join the French and Malian armies in fighting the Islamist insurgents that took over northern Mali last year.
On Thursday, France said it was increasing its troop strength to 1,400 after intervening initially with air strikes to try and halt a rapid advance by the Islamists.
Correspondents say a strong contingent of the French are at Segou, north-east of Bamako, to guard a major bridge across the Niger river, which the rebels would have to cross to threaten the capital.
'Street fighting'Bamako-based journalist Kodji Siby told BBC Africa that he had spoken to residents in Konna, about 550km (340 miles) north of Bamako, who said the Islamists fled the town when Malian soldiers deployed.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Foreign forces in Mali[/h]
- Some 1,400 French troops in Mali, 900 troops involved elsewhere in Africa
- French Mirage and Rafale jets, Gazelle helicopters
- Chad to send 2,000 troops
- Nigeria to send 1,200 troops; Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo expected to send 500 each, and Benin 300
- Ghana, Guinea and Chad also to send troops
- UK providing two C17 cargo planes for French effort
- Belgium and Denmark also sending transport planes
- US to provide communications help
"We have wrested total control of Konna after inflicting heavy losses on the enemy," the AFP news agency quoted a Malian army statement as saying.
The area is not accessible to independent observers and the aid group Doctors Without Borders told the Associated Press it had been trying to get to Konna since Monday but all roads leading to the area were closed by the Malian military.
On Thursday, French forces were bombarding the town of Diabaly, 350km from capital, which was captured by Islamists earlier in the week.
There was fighting on the streets until 03:00 GMT on Friday, Diabaly Mayor Oumar Diakite said from nearby Niono.
In total, 3,300 regional troops will be deployed in the conflict under a UN Security Council resolution.
Defence sources say France is likely to boost its troop numbers to 2,500.
Nigeria will lead the West African force, with Chad, Benin, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo also sending soldiers.
Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize northern Mali in April 2012. But the Islamists soon took control of the region's major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.
The battle for Mali
previous slide next slide