BAMAKO — Malian and French troops patrolled the outskirts of the contested town of Diabaly on Sunday as Paris said Russia and Canada offered to help transport foreign troops to defeat Islamists in northern Mali.
There are conflicting reports of whether the Islamists still hold the strategic outpost of Diabaly, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Bamako. The region is known for housing the most battle-hardened and fanatical Islamists.
"This mission of observation and dissuasion is mainly aimed at stopping any inflitration southwards by the militants," a Malian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Other reports said the radical Islamists were leaving areas under their control in the extreme north for the mountainous region of Kidal, 1,500 kilometres from Bamako and near the border with Algeria.
Kidal was the first town seized by an amalgam of Al-Qaeda linked militants and Tuareg separatist groups in March last year. The two sides then had a falling out and the Islamists have since gained the upper hand in the vast desert north.
"The jihadists are increasingly leaving other areas to go towards Kidal which is a hilly region," another Malian security official said.
A municipal official from the town of Douentza, about 800 kilometres from the capital, backed up the claim, saying: "They are fleeing. All indications show that they are seeking refuge in Kidal, which is difficult to access."
A French military offensive launched on January 11 and initially restricted to air strikes before being extended to ground battles has halted the rebels' sweep into the government-controlled south.
But the counter-offensive has drawn some criticism with Human Rights Watch alleging abuses committed by Malian soldiers.
"Human Rights Watch is receiving credible information about serious abuses committed by members of the Malian security forces against civilians, notably Tuaregs and Arabs ... these abuses include few killings," a statement said.
West African leaders sought urgent UN aid for a regional force to fight Islamists in Mali at an emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc Saturday.
It also called on member states and Chad, which has pledged 2,000 troops, to put words into action without haste.
Only about 100 African soldiers of a planned 5,800 African force have so far reached Mali, while France said that 2,000 French soldiers were now on the ground.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday that Russia had offered to help transport French troops and supplies to Mali and that Canada was to help to bring African troops to the country.
Asked on Europe 1 radio about how African troops would be transported, Fabius said "there is transportation that will be partly by the Africans themselves, partly by the Europeans and partly by the Canadians."
"And the Russians have proposed to provide means of transport for the French, so it's fairly diverse," he said.
A statement at the end of the ECOWAS meeting called on the United Nations "to immediately provide financial and logistical backing for the deployment of MISMA", the African force.
African troop deployments have always been long-drawn affairs. A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "The truth is that ECOWAS has no money to transport its troops".
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who also attended the summit, said it was time for the Africans to take charge of the task of halting the extremist advance "as soon as possible".
"It is vital that the maximum number of countries worldwide contribute" to the effort, Fabius said, speaking ahead of a donors' conference in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on January 29.
Germany Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Sunday responded to the appeal, pledging extra aid at the meeting but did not set an amount.
"The African troops need financial aid. During the donors' conference in Addis Ababa at the end of the month, Germany will assume its responsibilities," he wrote in the Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag.
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