BAMAKO
French-led troops in Mali have seized control of the airport in Timbuktu, 900 kilometres from the capital of Bamako.
French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian had announced earlier on Saturday that the French soldiers seized an airport in the strategically important Goa region.
Army heads north in Mali
NOUAKCHOTT/ADDIS ABABA
Mali forces head towards Goundam region, north of Mali.
Ammu Saal, who was in charge of the Goundam region administrative management told AA, "The Mali forces are heading to the city of Goundam to clear the region from armed groups in north."
Saal stressed that he had left the region about 15 months ago when the armed forces took control.
He added, because of all the communication links were sabotaged, he was not able to receive any information from his relatives who reside in the Goundam region.
-Egypt warns-
Furthermore, referring to the military intervention in Mali, Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr stressed that that military intervention never established peace and security by itself.
Speaking at the 20th African Union Summit which was held in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, Amr said, "The crisis would deepen, where a political solution was not possible."
France currently has 2,300 troops in Mali.
