Malian soldiers transport in a pickup truck a dozen suspected Islamist rebels on Friday, February 8, after arresting them north of Gao. A suicide bomber blew himself up on February 8 near a group of Malian soldiers in the northern city, where Islamist rebels driven from the town have resorted to guerilla attacks.
Bamako, Mali (CNN) -- French and Malian forces squaring off with Islamist militants seized a key city from them Friday, a high-ranking French source told CNN.
The city is Konna, in the central region of Mali, a sprawling, landlocked Saharan nation. That region is the latest front in the grinding fight between the West and al Qaeda-linked militants.
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The development is an important advance a week after France launched an air and ground military offensive against a strong militant presence across northern Mali and other locations in the sprawling country.
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Insurgents advancing south toward the capital, Bamako, took Konna on January 10. They started retreating a week ago after the French and Malian forces pushed back, with attacks from the air and other firepower.
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The fighting in Mali has captured the world's attention.
It was one of the most successful democracies in Africa until last year, when a coup toppled the president and Islamists capitalized on the chaos by establishing themselves in the north.
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There, they imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law, banning music, smoking, drinking and watching sports on television. They also damaged historic tombs and shrines.
France, once the colonial power in Mali, unleashed an offensive against the militants last week, a mission that President Francois Hollande says is designed to "destroy" the terrorist groups that have taken root.
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French envoy stresses urgency
France is sending troops to Mali from military facilities in Africa and from France. Paris is seeking help from its regional allies and the international community.
Such assistance has its perils. After Algeria permitted France to use its airspace to take on insurgents, militants angry about the move stormed a gas field in eastern Algeria and took hostages in what is now an ongoing hostage crisis.
French Ambassador to Mali Christian Rouyer reiterated the need for the French offensive.
"We had a friendly country that was on the verge of dying," he told CNN in an interview Friday.
"It was absolutely necessary to act with urgency. We did it, I believe, with full knowledge of the reasons. Faced with the seriousness of the situation, to my knowledge, there was no other solution."
French military power has been boosted, he said, "because we know we have an adversary who's determined, who's not afraid, knows the terrain well and who's well-equipped."
The offensive has made an impact, stopping the "terrorist advance" and saving other towns: Mopti and Sevare, for example, Rouyer said.
"The advance of terrorist forces -- either in the western or eastern sectors -- has stopped," he said, adding that this is helping to establish calm in Bamako.
"If Mopti and Sevare had fallen into terrorist hands," he said, "I believe that today, we would have chaos in Bamako and all Mali."
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France seeks help
Leaders from several countries have offered troops or logistical support for the offensive.
The European Union has approved a training mission. The Canadians and British are deploying military transport aircraft. Nigeria is set to deploy soldiers as part of a U.N.-mandated African force to fight the insurgents.
U.S. policy prohibits direct military aid to Mali because the fledgling government is a result of a coup. No support can go to the Malian military directly until leaders are chosen through an election, said Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman.
"We are not in a position to train the Malian military until we have democracy restored," she said this week. "But we're not precluded from assisting allies and partners in trying to restore security to that country."
So far, the United States has only shared intelligence from satellites and intercepted signals with the French, defense officials said. The Pentagon is also considering sending refueling tankers so that French jets can fly longer, more sustained combat missions, according to the officials.
U.S. trainers will be in African nations to train forces that are set to be deployed in Mali.
"We have deployed 100-ish, about 100 trainers to Africa. They're traveling to Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Ghana to discuss training and equipping and deployment needs of those countries in the interest of getting them ready to go into Mali," she said.
U.N. says warring threatens cultural heritage
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has issued calls for the protection of cultural heritage sites in Mali.
The ancient city of Timbuktu is a UNESCO World Heritage site of huge cultural significance, but its carefully preserved heritage has come under severe threat amid the ongoing conflict.
The fabled city, whose name is sometimes used in the West as a synonym for a faraway place, was at the center of trans-Sahara trade in earlier times. Last year, al Qaeda-linked rebels in northern Mali destroyed historic and religious landmarks there, claiming such relics are idolatrous. Now it is threatened by warfare.
"I ask all armed forces to make every effort to protect the cultural heritage of the country, which has already been severely damaged," UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in an appeal to all combatants.
"Mali's cultural heritage is a jewel whose protection is important for the whole of humanity. This is our common heritage, nothing can justify damaging it."
Refugees flee
The U.N. refugee agency said that in treks that began last year, when the crisis started, Malians are fleeing to other nations, including Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Guinea, Algeria and Togo, and many are internally displaced.
Refugees in Burkina Faso said "they fled the recent military intervention, the lack of any means of subsistence, and fear of the strict application of Sharia law," the agency said.
People talked about family members disappearing.
"They reported having witnessed executions and amputations, and mentioned that large amounts of money are being offered to civilians to fight against the Malian Army and its supporters. According to the accounts from refugees there are children among the rebel fighters," the United Nations said.
Ethnic Tuareg women and children are among the latest refugees.
"They said that more people, including their husbands and fathers, are on their way to Burkina Faso by foot, many using donkeys or local transport, and many bringing livestock with them. Despite ongoing insecurity in northern Mali in recent months, they say that people have delayed fleeing Mali to allow the men to take care of businesses and animals," the United Nations said.
Human rights abuses
The United Nations has noted accounts of amputations, floggings and public executions, such as the July stoning of a couple that reportedly had an affair. The International Criminal Court has launched a war crimes investigation amid reports that residents have been mutilated and killed for disobeying the Islamists.
"The current human rights situation is linked to long-standing and unresolved issues," and "human rights violations have been committed both in the North and in the area under government control," the Human Rights Council said, citing abuses since January 2012.
"In northern Mali, serious human rights violations have been taking place since January 2012, including summary executions and extrajudicial killings," the council said. It also said:
-- Fighters "allegedly used students as human shields to force military forces to surrender and later on allegedly executed 94 of the 153 captured and disarmed soldiers."
-- Several Tuareg soldiers, including nine in Timbuktu, were also reportedly victims of reprisals by members of the Malian army in the North.
-- Among civilian deaths were people who tried to resist the looting of humanitarian warehouses by armed groups.
-- Ten amputation cases by extremists were reported in the north, including the case of a 30-year-old man whose right hand was cut off with a kitchen knife for allegedly stealing cattle following a summary trial set up by a militia.
-- Women have been assaulted, harassed and abused after being accused of being improperly veiled or dressed, or for riding on a motorbike. In April, six armed men allegedly belonging to the Ansar Dine extremist group raped a woman "for not wearing her veil in her own home."
-- Rapes of women and girls have been done "at times in front of family members and often apparently carried out on an ethnic basis."
-- Girls as young as 12 or 13 are reported to have been forcibly married to members of militias.
-- Child soldiers who were recruited were sometimes as young as 10.
CNN's Joe Sterling reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Ingrid Formanek and Nima Elbagir reported from Bamako, Mali.
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Malians look at the charred motorcycle used by a suicide bomber before he blew himself up near a group of Malian soldiers on February 8. The act marked the first suicide attack in the embattled west African nation since the start of a French-led offensive to oust the Islamists from Mali's north, where they had controlled key towns for 10 months.
A convoy of French army vehicles head toward Gao on February 7. France is mulling over when to hand off its four-week-old intervention to U.N. peacekeepers.
A man searches through the ruins of a building destroyed by French airstrikes in Douentza, Mali, on Tuesday, February 5. The town was retaken by French and Malian troops in January.
A child holds up a machine gun round found in the ruins of a building destroyed by French airstrikes in Douentza, Mali, on February 5.
A child leads a donkey cart past a destroyed Malian army armored vehicle near Douentza, Mali, on February 5.
Malians welcome France's President Francois Hollande as he arrives in Timbuktu on Saturday, February 2. French-led troops are working to secure the area against Islamist militants.
A man sweeps the red carpet at Mali's Mopti airport on January 2 before the arrival of Hollande and Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore.
French soldiers patrol next to the Djingareyber mosque, on January 31, in Timbuktu, Mali. The city was recaptured on January 28, by French-led forces in their offensive against Islamist rebels who have been occupying Mali's north since last April.
French air strikes destroyed this vehicle outside the northern Malian city of Gao.
Men play boules, a game that was forbidden under Islamist rule. on January Wednesday, 30, in Gao, Mali. Gao, once a key Islamist stronghold, was retaken on January 26 by French and Malian troops.
A Malian soldier tries to disperse looters in Timbuktu, Mali, on Tuesday, January 29. Malian and French forces have been battling Islamist militants to loosen their grip on the country. France was the colonial power in Mali until 1960.
People cheer along a road in Ansongo, a town near the northern Malian city of Gao, as troops from neighboring Niger enter the city.
A man waves a French flag as residents celebrate the arrival of Niger troops on January 29 in Ansongo.
Niger troops enter Ansongo on January 29.
Malian soldiers enter the historic city of Timbuktu on Monday, January 28.
French soldiers flying back from Timbuktu arrive at the French army base camp in Sevare on January 28.
A man prays in the recently liberated town of Douentza on January 28.
Wounded Malian soldiers rest after receiving medical care at the Polyclinique of Kati on Sunday, January 27.
Malian soldiers wait at a checkpoint near Sevare on January 27.
A French soldier walks through the bush in central Mali on January 27.
Malian soldiers wait at a checkpoint near Sevare on January 27.
A Malian soldier stands amid debris Saturday, January 26, in the key central town of Konna, which has been under French and Malian army control since last week. It was taken on January 11 by Islamist groups.
Malian soldiers walk past the bullet-riddled wall of a house in Konna on Saturday, January 26.
A Malian soldier looks at the wreckage of an Islamist rebel's armed pickup truck in Konna.
Ammunition lies on the ground in Konna.
Malian soldiers escort journalists in Konna.
Malian soldiers patrol a street of Diabaly on January 26.
Ali Ag Noh, right, stands with his family in front of his house on Friday, Janurary 25, in the village of Seribala, Mali, after his cousin and brother-in-law, Aboubakrim Ag Mohamed, and a cattle rancher, Samba Dicko, were shot dead on January 24, allegedly by the Malian Army. According to Noh, Mohamed, a Tuareg, and Dicko were shot in the head in Seribala after being accused by two Malian soldiers of being Islamists or aiding Islamists.
Members of the French army arrive at a base camp in Sevare, Mali, on January 25. French and Malian troops advanced on the key Islamist stronghold of Gao after recapturing the northern town of Hombori as the extremists bombed a strategic bridge to thwart a new front planned in the east.
Malian soldiers ride a motorcycle in a street of Merkala, on Thursday, January 24, 2013 as the first of the 6,000 troops pledged by African nations to support France started heading north.
A Malian soldier armed with a machine gun watches a herd of cattle crossing a bridge over the Niger River on January 24. Mali's military offensive against militants controlling the northern half of the country has gathered pace in the past two weeks, with backing from France and other international allies.
A French army convoy travels near Segou, in south-central Mali, is on its way to Diabaly on January 24.
A woman who fled northern Mali sits at a camp for internally displaced persons in Sevare on Wednesday, January 23. The EU announced 20 million euros of extra humanitarian aid to help Malians fleeing fighting, its second such donation in as many months.
A soldier rides on the back of a scooter outside Diabaly on January 23.
Malians walk past a destroyed truck mounted with a machine gun on Tuesday, January 22. The truck was used by militants and destroyed during airstrikes by the French air force.
Malian soldiers patrol Diabaly on January 22.
Malian soldiers walk past destroyed army barracks as they patrol in Diabaly on January 22, 2013.
A French soldier mans his post on January 22 near the city of Diabaly, Mali.
A French soldier stands guard in front of charred pickups used by Islamist rebels in Diabaly, Mali, on Monday, January 21. The Malian military says it has gained control of the town of Diabaly, a key advance in the battle against Islamist militants in the north.
A Malian soldier walks past a army building that was taken by the jihadists before being destroyed during aerial bombing in Diabaly on January 21.
A Malian soldier searches through debris after aerial bombing in the city of Diabaly on January 21.
A French soldier looks around after arriving in Diabaly on January 21.
French soldiers unload military equipment from an aircraft on January 21.
Malian youths look on as French soldiers drive through Niono on Sunday, January 20.
The French Army conducts operations in Mali on January 20.
A Malian soldier holds a machine gun on top of a jeep on the road back from the town of Mopti, Mali, on Saturday, January 19.
French soldiers of the 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment stand with their equipment in front of a helicopter on January 19 at an airbase near Bamako, Mali. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on January 19 that France now had 2,000 troops on the ground in Mali as part of a drive against Islamist militants holding the north of the country.
French soldiers of the 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment relax on January 19 at the airbase near Bamako.
A French soldier from the helicopter regiment stands guard at the airbase on January 19.
Malian soldiers check the identity of passengers in a bus coming from Mopti on January 19.
French President Francois Hollande, left, speaks with soldiers who are due to leave for Mali, during a meeting in Tulle, France, on January 19.
Malian soldiers sit in a truck on their way to Niono, Mali, on Friday, January 18.
A Malian child looks out from a bus as Malian army soldiers check vehicles and passengers in the city of Niono on Friday, January 18. Malian troops, with help from France and a U.N.-mandated African force, are fighting al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants.
Malian soldiers man a checkpoint in Niono on January 18.
Togolese troops board a plane to Bamako, Mali, on Thursday, January 17, at the Lome airport in Togo. Troops from West African countries are heading to Mali as part of a U.N.-mandated African force to fight the insurgents.
Helmets belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian army are prepared to be sent to Mali at the Nigerian army peacekeeping center near Kaduna, Nigeria, on January 17.
Malian soldiers stand guard as Mali's President Dioncounda Traore speaks to French troops at an air base in Bamako, Mali, on Wednesday, January 16.
A Malian soldier adjusts his weapon as President Traore speaks to French troops at an air base in Bamako on January 16.
French army soldiers stand on armoured vehicles as they leave Bamako and start their deployment to the north of Mali as part of the Serval operation on Tuesday, January 15.
A French flag is hung on a van in Bamako as French troops start a deployment in the north of Mali on Wednesday.
French troops prepare their Sagaie armoured all terrain vehicles from the Licorne operation based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at the 101st military airbase near Bamako on Wednesday.
French troops from the Licorne operation based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, arrive at the 101st military airbase near Bamako on Wednesday to reinforce the Serval operations, before their deployment in the north of Mali.
Malian police patrol in the capital of Bamako on Sunday, January 13.
Malian police patrol Bamako on Sunday.
A British army Boeing C-17 cargo plane from British Brize Norton base lands Sunday at the Evreux military base in France to take supplies to Bamako.
French soldiers prepare cargo for a British plane en route to Bamako on Sunday at the Evreux military base.
A French armored vehicle rolls onto a British army aircraft to be taken to Bamako on Sunday in Evreux.
Workers adjust chains on a vehicle load in the C-17 in Evreux on Sunday.
Internally displaced Malians from Timbuktu chat at a makeshift cafe in Bamako on Sunday.
French President Francois Hollande, right, speaks with members of Malian associations in France during a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Sunday.
Muslim men protest French military action in Mali outside the French Embassy in central London on Saturday, January 12. About 50 Muslim protesters gathered outside the embassy.
Protesters wave signs outside the French Embassy on Saturday in London.
The interim president of Mali, Dioncounda Traore, speaks after a ministerial Cabinet meeting in Bamako on Friday, January 11. Malian authorities declared a state of emergency throughout the country on Friday as the army launched a counteroffensive against Islamists who were pushing south.
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