France’s defence minister has said that French troops are involved in “very violent fighting” in the mountains of northern Mali and that it is too early to talk about a quick pullout from the West African country, despite the growing cost of the intervention.
The fighting against rebels in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains has been going on for days.
A clash in the area killed 23 soldiers from neighbouring Chad on Friday, according to a letter from French President Francois Hollande expressing condolences to his Chadian counterpart.