FRENCH troops have advanced towards Mali's Islamist-held north as Russia and Canada offered to help transport French and African soldiers to boost the Paris-led offensive.
The progress towards the jihadist strongholds came amid reports that the al-Qaeda-linked militants were abandoning some of their positions and converging on the mountainous region of Kidal, their northernmost bastion, 1500 kilometres from Bamako and near the border with Algeria.
"The deployment towards the north ... which began 24 hours ago, is on course, with troops inside the towns of Niono and Sevare," Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Dosseur told reporters.
Niono is about 350km northeast of the Malian capital and 60km south of Diabaly, which was seized nearly a week ago by Islamists and then heavily bombed by French planes.
Sevare has a strategically important airport that could help serve as a base for operations further north. It is about 630km northeast of Bamako.
The town is also near Konna, whose seizure by Islamists on January 10 sparked the French military intervention in the former colony against the forces occupying northern Mali for about nine months.
"We are in a phase of pushing forward," said a French lieutenant-colonel in charge of operations in Niono and the town of Diabaly, whose fate remained unclear on Sunday amid conflicting claims over whether the Islamists there had been routed.
"In Diabaly, the situation is not very clear, but it appears the rebel fighters have left the town," he said, identifying himself only as Frederic.
The region where the towns are located is known for housing the most battle-hardened and fanatical Islamists.
French-led Malian troops patrolled the outskirts of Diabaly on Sunday in a show of muscle.
"This mission of observation and dissuasion is mainly aimed at stopping any infiltration southwards by the militants," a Malian security official told AFP.
"The jihadists are increasingly leaving other areas to go towards Kidal, which is a hilly region," another security official said.
Kidal was the first town seized by an amalgam of al-Qaeda-linked militants and Tuareg separatist groups in March last year. The two sides then had a falling out and the Islamists have since gained the upper hand in the vast desert north.
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