French troops may pull out of Mali next month, handing over to a still-developing Malian military. The announcement comes as troops secure the key northern city of Kidal.
The Somali President tells Channel 4 News he wants more British military and intelligence help against Al Qaeda.
French President Francois Hollande arrives in Timbuktu, Mali, six days after French forces parachuted in the town to recapture it from Al-Qaeda linked militants.
A new report by Amnesty claims the army in Mali has killed civilians and committed “serious human rights abuses” during the conflict against armed groups in the country.
Lindsey Hilsum
Landmines on the road out from Gao, recently liberated from the jihadis, shows Mali’s conflict is entering a new stage, and the French will have to tread more softly when they reach Kidal.
Lindsey Hilsum
Issa Alzouma made a living from digging gravel for construction companies in Gao, Mali, until they cut off his hand.
Music can once again be heard on Mali’s streets, as land is taken back from Islamist control. But with musicians threatened and festivals cancelled, fears for Mali’s cultural future remain.
International Editor Lindsey Hilsum hears the brutal and distressing testimony of those who lived through the rule of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb in Gao.
Mali is the country that falls the furthest in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index as a result of the conflict which still divides the nation.
Lindsey Hilsum
All over Gao, you can see the wreckage left by the jihadis. But the damage which will be hardest to repair is in people’s heads.
Footage shows around 200 French paratroopers being dropped north of the Unesco world heritage site city of Timbuktu in a bid to stop any remaining Islamic rebels from fleeing in that direction.
Britain is offering support for the French military operation in Mali with up to 200 troops to be deployed to Africa to support the training of an intervention force.
UK troops will be sent to Mali, Downing Street confirms. But as the list of “non-combat” roles provided by the armed forces grows, is the mission already starting to creep?
Lindsey Hilsum
Residents of the Malian city of Gao, retaken from jihadis at the weekend, are once more enjoying the freedom to dress as they please, to ride on a motor bike – and to wear glasses to see the world.
Islamist fighters desert Mali’s ancient Saharan city of Timbuktu as French and Malian troops re-take it.