14 January 2013 Last updated at 18:37 ET
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The BBC's Mark Doyle reports from the Mali capital Bamako, where he is one of the few correspondents on the ground
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Mali: Divided nation[/h]
Thousands of African troops are expected in Mali in "coming days and weeks" to support Malian and French forces, France's UN ambassador says.
Gerard Araud said France wanted the deployment of a West African force to happen "as quickly as possible".
France says its air strikes have forced back Islamists who took control of northern Mali last year, though the rebels seized one town on Monday.
France intervened on Friday after the Islamists began advancing southwards.
French officials have said they feared that the Islamists could have marched on the capital, Bamako, creating a grave security threat for the wider region.
Aid workers said many people had been fleeing areas targeted by French air strikes over the past four days.
Mr Araud was speaking after the UN Security Council convened in New York at France's request.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Analysis[/h]
Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is the group that worries the French authorities most, but the view amongst most experts is that it does not currently have the capacity and networks on the ground to carry out a serious attack within France in the short term.
The more immediate worry for France may be retaliation closer to Mali - there are 6,000 citizens in Mali itself but embassies, businesses and private citizens may all be at risk across North Africa.
In the past experts argued that AQIM looked as much like a criminal network as a militant group. However, with the shift of its centre of gravity from Algeria to northern Mali, it acquired a sanctuary which began to change its character.
Paris has clearly decided that the short-term risk of increased threat from intervening is outweighed by the importance of denying a militant group a long-term sanctuary.
"The African forces are going to be deployed in the coming days and weeks," he said, adding that the Nigerian commander of the force was already on the ground.
The force would be deployed under UN Security Council resolution 2085, which was passed in December and allowed for a 3,000-strong African-led mission to intervene in Mali later this year in the absence of any negotiated solution.
French Foreign Minister Laurant Fabius said the West African force would include 600 troops from Nigeria, 500 each from Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo and Senegal, and 300 from Benin.
He said France's involvement would last "a matter of weeks".
France has sent about 550 troops to the central town of Mopti and to Bamako, and a defence ministry official told Reuters troop numbers would increase to 2,500 in coming days.
At least 11 Malian soldiers and a French helicopter pilot have died in Mali. More than 100 militants are reported to have been killed.
Mr Araud said the Malian army had suffered "heavy casualties", but added that "they are fighting - they are fighting in very difficult circumstances."
'Mass displacement'A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said the humanitarian situation was "fast deteriorating"
"Mass displacement of the population has already been observed, casualties have been reported and we're trying our best to address the humanitarian needs of the population," said Ali Naraghi.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Foreign forces in Mali[/h]
On Monday, French officials said Islamists had counter-attacked and taken Diabaly, a town in government controlled territory 400km (250 miles) from Bamako, but denied that it represented a major setback.
"We knew that there would be a counter-attack in the west because that is where the most determined, the most organised and fanatical elements are," French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France's BFM TV.
But Mr Le Drian insisted that France's campaign was "developing favourably".
France intensified its air strikes on rebel targets over the weekend, with its aircraft also bombing the town of Gao in eastern Mali. On Monday witnesses told AFP there had been air strikes on Douentza for a fourth consecutive day.
Residents in several northern towns told AFP news agency that Islamists in several key northern towns including Gao and Douentza had either fled or taken cover from the air strikes by Monday.
Rebels of the al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), said that France would pay for its intervention.
Meanwhile, Algeria, which has allowed French jets to cross its airspace, said it had closed its long desert border with Mali.
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.
One Islamist group, Ansar Dine, began pushing further south last week, seizing Konna.
The town has since been recaptured by Malian troops with French aerial support.
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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The BBC's Mark Doyle reports from the Mali capital Bamako, where he is one of the few correspondents on the ground
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Mali: Divided nation[/h]
Thousands of African troops are expected in Mali in "coming days and weeks" to support Malian and French forces, France's UN ambassador says.
Gerard Araud said France wanted the deployment of a West African force to happen "as quickly as possible".
France says its air strikes have forced back Islamists who took control of northern Mali last year, though the rebels seized one town on Monday.
France intervened on Friday after the Islamists began advancing southwards.
French officials have said they feared that the Islamists could have marched on the capital, Bamako, creating a grave security threat for the wider region.
Aid workers said many people had been fleeing areas targeted by French air strikes over the past four days.
Mr Araud was speaking after the UN Security Council convened in New York at France's request.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Analysis[/h]
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is the group that worries the French authorities most, but the view amongst most experts is that it does not currently have the capacity and networks on the ground to carry out a serious attack within France in the short term.
The more immediate worry for France may be retaliation closer to Mali - there are 6,000 citizens in Mali itself but embassies, businesses and private citizens may all be at risk across North Africa.
In the past experts argued that AQIM looked as much like a criminal network as a militant group. However, with the shift of its centre of gravity from Algeria to northern Mali, it acquired a sanctuary which began to change its character.
Paris has clearly decided that the short-term risk of increased threat from intervening is outweighed by the importance of denying a militant group a long-term sanctuary.
"The African forces are going to be deployed in the coming days and weeks," he said, adding that the Nigerian commander of the force was already on the ground.
The force would be deployed under UN Security Council resolution 2085, which was passed in December and allowed for a 3,000-strong African-led mission to intervene in Mali later this year in the absence of any negotiated solution.
French Foreign Minister Laurant Fabius said the West African force would include 600 troops from Nigeria, 500 each from Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo and Senegal, and 300 from Benin.
He said France's involvement would last "a matter of weeks".
France has sent about 550 troops to the central town of Mopti and to Bamako, and a defence ministry official told Reuters troop numbers would increase to 2,500 in coming days.
At least 11 Malian soldiers and a French helicopter pilot have died in Mali. More than 100 militants are reported to have been killed.
Mr Araud said the Malian army had suffered "heavy casualties", but added that "they are fighting - they are fighting in very difficult circumstances."
'Mass displacement'A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said the humanitarian situation was "fast deteriorating"
"Mass displacement of the population has already been observed, casualties have been reported and we're trying our best to address the humanitarian needs of the population," said Ali Naraghi.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Foreign forces in Mali[/h]
- Some 550 French troops in Bamako and Mopti
- French Mirage and Rafale jets
- Nigeria to send 600 troops; Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo expected to send 500 each, and Benin 300
- UK providing two C17 cargo planes for French effort
- France says further logistics help from Denmark and US
On Monday, French officials said Islamists had counter-attacked and taken Diabaly, a town in government controlled territory 400km (250 miles) from Bamako, but denied that it represented a major setback.
"We knew that there would be a counter-attack in the west because that is where the most determined, the most organised and fanatical elements are," French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France's BFM TV.
But Mr Le Drian insisted that France's campaign was "developing favourably".
France intensified its air strikes on rebel targets over the weekend, with its aircraft also bombing the town of Gao in eastern Mali. On Monday witnesses told AFP there had been air strikes on Douentza for a fourth consecutive day.
Residents in several northern towns told AFP news agency that Islamists in several key northern towns including Gao and Douentza had either fled or taken cover from the air strikes by Monday.
Rebels of the al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), said that France would pay for its intervention.
Meanwhile, Algeria, which has allowed French jets to cross its airspace, said it had closed its long desert border with Mali.
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.
One Islamist group, Ansar Dine, began pushing further south last week, seizing Konna.
The town has since been recaptured by Malian troops with French aerial support.
The battle for Mali
previous slide next slide