(20 Jan 2013)
1. Wide of French military helicopter landing at Niono town football pitch
2. Wide of French armoured vehicles enshrouded by dust
3. Mid of sunlight shining through trees branches
4. Pan of soldiers and armoured vehicles enshrouded by dust
5. Mid of soldier wearing skull face mask to protect him from the dust
6. Mid of silhouette of Malian soldier
STORYLINE:
French forces extended their deployment in Mali northward on Sunday, reinforcing their presence in the towns of Niono and Mopti, Col. Thierry Burkhard, a French military spokesman said.
Radical Islamists first seized control of the main towns in northern Mali nine months ago, taking advantage of a power vacuum after a military coup in the distant capital of Bamako.
Late on Saturday the Malian military announced that the government was in control of Diabaly, marking an important accomplishment for the French-led offensive to oust the extremists from northern and central Mali.
West African regional neighbours talked of a military intervention to retake northern Mali for months, but it was not until the French began their offensive Jan. 11 that the Islamists faced a military threat to their grip on power there.
The Islamists took Diabaly several days later - 270 miles (430 kilometres) away from the capital - as part of an alarming descent into central Mali and closer to the government seat of power in Bamako.
France, which as of Saturday had 2-thousand troops in Mali, wants African forces to eventually take the lead.
Mali once enjoyed a reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies with the majority of its 15.8 million people practicing a moderate form of Islam.
That changed last March, following a coup in the capital which created the disarray that allowed Islamist extremists to take over the main cities in the distant north.
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