France takes action against Mali Islamists

BAMAKO, Mali -- France launched a military operation yesterday to help the government of Mali defeat al-Qaida-linked militants who captured more ground this week, dramatically raising the stakes in the battle for this vast desert nation.

French President Francois Hollande said his country acted, at the request of Mali's president, because the "terrorists are a threat to France, to Europe and the world." He vowed that the operation in Mali would last "as long as necessary."

The arrival of the French troops in their former colony came a day after the Islamists moved the closest yet toward territory still under government control and fought the Malian military for the first time in months, seizing the strategic city of Konna.

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swath of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

Hollande did not give any details of the operation, other than to say that it was aimed in part at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali, where seven of them already are being held captive.-- AP