Mali rebels have taken town of Diabaly -French govt

NATO welcomed France's military intervention in Mali on Monday but said the alliance had not received any French request for help.                  

"There has been no request, no discussion within NATO on the situation in Mali, the alliance as such is not involved in this crisis," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told reporters.                                           

"But of course we are all concerned by the threats that terrorist organizations in Mali can pose, not just to the country itself, but also to the region, and that is why we welcome the efforts of the whole international community to implement the United Nations Security Council resolution on Mali and the very swift action by France to roll back the offensive of terrorist organizations," she said.                    

Earlier, Mali's Islamist rebels launched a counter-offensive in the central town of Diabaly on Monday after three days of French air strikes on their positions in the north, residents and Malian military sources said.                                

"The Islamists are fighting with the army inside the town," said one local resident. "They started to infiltrate the town last night by crossing the river in little groups."        

In this context, the French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that Islamist rebels have taken control of the town of Diabaly in central Mali.
  
"They took Diabaly after fierce fighting and resistance from the Malian army that was not able to hold them off at that moment," Le Drian told BFM television.
   
However, he said the fighting was continuing and French and Malian forces were fighting to push the rebels out of the area.        


REUTERS