The Malian military gained control Monday of the central Mali town of Diabaly, a key advance in the battle against Islamist militants in the north.
The country's forces retook the town without ground assistance from the French troops in the country, a military spokesman said Sunday. The French military confirmed that it provided only air support.
The French are involved in the fight because Mali once was under the country's control and because Islamists have been threatening to turn the democracy into a haven for international terrorists.
Ethnic Tuaregs who had returned to Mali well-armed from fighting for late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi staged a military coup last year against the Malian government. Islamic extremists capitalized on the chaos, carved out a large haven in Mali's north and imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law. The Islamists banned music, smoking, drinking and watching sports on television. They also destroyed historic tombs and shrines.
Those events stoked fear among global security experts that Mali could become a new hub for terrorism.
And recent events regarding Mali have unfolding in harrowing ways. Mali is allowing France to use its airspace to take on insurgents, a move that purportedly angered militants, prompting some to storm a gas field in eastern Algeria and take hostages. That ended Saturday with 23 hostages dead and dozens of Islamist militants killed.
On Monday, French officials said Malian forces pushed the Islamists into the forest beyond Diabaly and have taken control of the city and another area, Douentza.
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