France to triple Mali deployment
2013-01-15 15:05
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Paris - France is planning to deploy a total of 2 500 troops
in Mali, more than three times the number sent so far to its former colony,
defence sources said on Tuesday.
The revelation suggests the government is ready to commit to
a far bigger - and inevitably far longer - role in the campaign against
Islamist groups in northern Mali than previously indicated.
President Francois Hollande said earlier on Tuesday that
there were currently 750 French soldiers in the former colony but acknowledged
that this figure would increase.
"There will be a gradual build-up to a figure of 2 500,"
a source close to Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
The plans to deploy a force of that size is at odds with
suggestions by government ministers that the involvement of French ground
troops would be limited to protecting Mali's capital, Bamako.
According to Le Monde and other French media, France is also
planning to base a substantial contingent of troops at Mopti in central Mali,
from where they will be able to carry out operations in the north of the
country.
Until now, ministers have portrayed France's involvement as
restricted to stopping the Islamists' push south with the subsequent task of
regaining control of the north to be handed over to the Malian army with the
support of troops from neighbouring West African states.
Military analysts have described this scenario as optimistic
given the limited capacity of the Malian army and the West African forces lack
of experience in combating battle-hardened, well-armed guerrilla fighters in
unfamiliar desert terrain.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday that he
thought involvement in the Mali campaign would essentially be aerial and
claimed France's mission could be completed in a matter of weeks.
