Rebels still hold key town in Mali, French defense minister says

By Laura Smith-Spark and Vlad Duthiers, CNN

January 16, 2013 -- Updated 0359 GMT (1159 HKT)

(CNN) -- The Islamist rebels fighting to overthrow Mali's government are "determined, well-equipped and well-trained" and still hold a key town in the central part of that African country, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.

French troops and warplanes joined the battle last week on the side of Malian government forces, and Le Drian said the intervention stopped the Islamists from overrunning Bamako, the capital. The Islamists, who have seized much of northern Mali, had hoped to deliver a "definitive blow" to the government by capturing the city of Mopti, he told reporters in Paris.

"We prevented it," he said. But the push has not yet driven them from the town of Konna, the scene of a fierce battle last week that weakened the Malian army, Le Drian said.

"We are facing a versatile adversary who is determined, well-equipped and well-trained," he said.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, has committed about 1,700 troops and air crews to the fight, Le Drian said. The force includes about 800 troops on the ground in Mali, including an armor unit.

The operation is hitting "significant concentrations of fighters and vehicles" in the north, behind the front lines, and bolstering government troops' defense of Bamako, he said.

The campaign will continue "as long as it is necessary" to defend Mali's embattled government and allow the speedy deployment of an African-led peacekeeping mission and a European force that will train Malian troops, Le Drian said.

And speaking on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, French President Francois Hollande said the number of French troops deployed would increase "so that France can make way as quickly as possible" for an African force. France has no intention of staying in Mali permanently but would do what was necessary until the African force was ready to take over, he said.

Read more: What's behind the instability in Mali?

Hollande said France had three aims: stopping the "terrorist aggression" from the north; securing Bamako and safeguarding French nationals there; and enabling Mali to recover its territorial integrity. And he stressed that France was in Mali at the request of its government, with the support of its neighbors and world powers, and within the framework of international law.

"If we had not taken up our responsibility and if on Friday morning we had not acted with this intervention, where would Mali be today?" he asked.