French, Malian forces advance on Mali town of Diabaly

French and Malian soldiers advanced Monday on the western town of Diabaly which has been the theatre of airstrikes and fighting since being seized by Islamist fighters a week ago, a military source said.

A convoy of armoured vehicles left at dawn from the town of Niono, which is 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Diabaly in Malian government-held territory, the source said.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday that Diabaly, which is 400 kilometres north of the capital Bamako, had not yet been retaken by the Malian army as conflicting reports emerged from the town, which is not accessible to independent observers.

“Everything indicates that the evolution of Diabaly will be positive in the coming hours,” he added.

On Saturday the Malian army patrolled the periphery of the town, where the situation was “not very clear,” according to a French officer based in Niono.

“In theory the rebel fighters have left the town,” he said, but added they were both determined and mobile.

A colonel in the Malian army said that a “fringe of the Diabaly population adheres to the jihadists’ theories and we must be very careful in the coming hours.”