Sevare, Mali:
French forces have taken control of the airport in Kidal, seizing a key position in one of three provincial capitals the Islamist militants took over last year, officials said on Wednesday. One Malian official said French troops even moved into the city, which was the last remaining urban stronghold of the Islamists in Mali.
French and Malian troops have recaptured two of the other provincial capitals, Timbuktu and Gao, in recent days.
Haminy Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regional assembly, said French forces met no resistance when they arrived late on Tuesday.
"The French arrived at 9:30 pm aboard four planes, which landed one after another. Afterwards they took the airport and then entered the town, and there was no combat," said Maiga, who had been in touch with people in the town by satellite phone as all the normal phone networks were down.
"The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead," he added.
In Paris, French army Colonel Thierry Burkhard confirmed that the airport was taken overnight and described the operation in Kidal itself as "ongoing."
On Tuesday, a secular Tuareg rebel group had asserted that they were in control of Kidal and other small towns in northern Mali. Maiga said those fighters had left Kidal and were at the entry posts on the roads from Gao and Tessalit.
France, the former colonial ruler, began sending in troops, helicopters and warplanes on January 11 to turn the tide after the armed Islamists began encroaching on the south, toward the capital. French and Malian troops seized Gao during the weekend, welcomed by joyous crowds. They took Timbuktu on Monday. The Islamists gave up both cities and retreated into the desert.
To help battle the Islamists in their desert hideouts, a US military official says the Pentagon is considering setting up a drone base in northwest Africa to increase intelligence collection.