French officials conceded on Wednesday that it was at the outset of a “real war” in Mali that would involve tough fighting to weed out al-Qaeda and its allies in remote Saharan regions.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the defence minister, said troops hunting down militant groups that had fled conquered towns were already involved in clashes in northern Mali. Frence forces deployed with troops from Chad took Kidal, the last large town in the area still in the hands of Islamists.
Although Mr Le Drian said that “hundreds” of enemy fighters had been killed in the assault to seize the cities, Islamist fighters have fled into the desert and mountain strongholds where French troops will be vulnerable to ambush. Gao, the largest city in the north, has not been declared secure and the threat from the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains is unknown.
“There were clashes yesterday around Gao,” Mr Le Drian said. “Once our troops, supported by Malian forces, started patrols around the towns that we have taken, they met residual jihadist groups who are still fighting.