French Soldiers Prepare To Advance To Mali’s Northen Region To Help Retake The Area From Islamist Rebels

This photo provided by the ECPAD/French Army shows a Rafale jetfighter flying over Mali, Tuesday, Jan.15, 2013. Islamists in Mali on Wednesday prevented residents from leaving the towns they are holding, and some fear they will be used as human targets by the extremists as French troops pressed forward to launch direct combat within hours. <AP Photo/Adj Nicolas-Nelson Richard, ECPAD, EMA>

Mali’s President Dioncounda Traore, center, visits the troops on the military side of Bamako’s airport, Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. French troops pressed northward in Mali toward territory occupied by radical Islamists on Wednesday, military officials said, announcing the start of a land assault that will put soldiers in direct combat “within hours.” <AP Photo/Jerome Delay>

Malians who had fled 60km on foot from Diabaly, the scene of recent fighting, rest in Niono, in central Mali, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. <AP Photo/Harouna Traore>

The photo released on Jan. 16, 2013 by French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French soldiers preparing their ammunitions at the military airbase in Bamako, Mali. French ground forces were heading towards Mali’s northern region to help local authorities to retake the area from Islamist rebels, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday. <Xinhua/ECPAD>

French President Francois Hollande, left, followed by his defense minister Jean Yves Le Drian, and prime minister Francois Ayrault, right, arrives to deliver his speech, during the New Year wishes ceremony to members of Parliament, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. Hollande launched the surprise operation in Mali, a former West African colony, on Friday, with hopes of stopping al-Qaida-linked and other Islamist extremists he believes pose a danger to the world. <AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, Pool>