French airstrikes targeted the fuel depots and desert hideouts of Islamic extremists in northern Mali overnight on Monday, as a military spokeswoman said that French forces plan to hand control of Timbuktu to the Malian army this week.
After taking control of the key cities of northern Mali, forcing the Islamic rebels to retreat into the desert, the French military intervention is turning away from the cities and targeting the fighters’ remote outposts to prevent them bases from being used as Saharan launch pads for international terrorism.
The French plan to leave the city of Timbuktu on Thursday, February 7, a spokeswoman for the armed forces in the city said on Monday.
French soldiers took the city last week after Islamic extremists withdrew. Now the French military said it intends to move out of Timbuktu in order to push farther northeast to the strategic city of Gao.
