Sevare, Mali (CNN) -- The Malian military gained control Monday of the central Mali town of Diabaly, a key advance in the battle against Islamist militants in the north.
The country's forces retook the town without ground assistance from the French troops in the country, a military spokesman said Sunday. The French military confirmed that it provided only air support.
The French are involved in the fight because Mali once was under the country's control and because Islamists have been threatening to turn the democracy into a haven for international terrorists.
Ethnic Tuaregs who had returned to Mali well-armed from fighting for late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi staged a military coup last year against the Malian government. Islamic extremists capitalized on the chaos, carved out a large haven in Mali's north and imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law. The Islamists banned music, smoking, drinking and watching sports on television. They also destroyed historic tombs and shrines.
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.
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Those events stoked fear among global security experts that Mali could become a new hub for terrorism.
And recent events regarding Mali have unfolding in harrowing ways. Mali is allowing France to use its airspace to take on insurgents, a move that purportedly angered militants, prompting some to storm a gas field in eastern Algeria and take hostages. That ended Saturday with 23 hostages dead and dozens of Islamist militants killed.
On Monday, French officials said Malian forces pushed the Islamists into the forest beyond Diabaly and have taken control of the city and another area, Douentza.
A CNN crew was in Diabaly Monday and were told by Malian and French forces that Islamists left after they were hit directly in one of their makeshift camps by the French and Malians. The scene after one battle included burned-out armored vehicles and a truck that at one point belonged to the Islamists.
A Malian officer, Col. Seydou Sogoba, told CNN that the Islamists were using sophisticated weapons like he had never seen before. He believes they originated in Libya.
As the news crew drove into town, the dusty streets in the extremely poor area were mostly empty except for military vehicles and French and Malian troops. Whatever trucks had belonged to the Islamist rebels were bombed and burned out. Destroyed high-caliber weapons were seen in the vehicles.
A French colonel, exhausted from fighting and who wished not to be named, told CNN that foreign fighters -- including some who are Algerian -- have been pushed out of the area.
Sogoba told CNN the fight against the rebels was very hard, but he is focused on "preserving the national integrity" of Mali.
The humanitarian crisis in Mali is stark, according to the Norwegian Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
"They cannot stay where they are due to the grave insecurity caused by the conflict," said Sebastian Albuja, the center's head of the Africa and Americas Department. "Yet the meager resources and the diminished coping abilities of the government and humanitarian actors means that they are faced with limited options."
Because Algeria has closed its borders, people in the north are increasingly heading to the desert, where they will face harsh conditions and real struggles over food and water with limited humanitarian assistance, the group said.
Many are fleeing on foot because they can't afford boats or buses, Albuja said, and even if they do make it, they get there only to find the roads blocked.
The group is especially concerned about women, children and the injured, who they've heard are too afraid to go to hospitals, believing hospitals will be bombed. The Norwegian center is very concerned about victims of rape as a weapon of war, he said.
French involvement began the day after militants said January 10 that they had seized the city of Konna, east of Diabaly in central Mali.
Paris-Match interviews Belmoktar
On Monday, the website of the French magazine Paris-Match published an interview with the spokesman for Moktar Belmoktar, the veteran jihadist behind the Algeria attack, who said the attack was "a 90% success because we managed to reach a strategic site protected by 800 soldiers with only 40 men."
France's "crusaders and Zionist Jews will have to pay for its attack on the Muslims of northern Mali," said the spokesman, Hacen Ould Khalil. "I hope France realizes that there will be dozens of Mohammed Merahs and Khaled Kelkal(s)."
Merah, believed to be a French national of Algerian descent, said he was a self-styled al Qaeda-trained jihadist. He was the chief suspect in a series of shootings, including an attack on a Jewish school, in France in 2012. He was killed in a police raid.
Kelkal was of Algerian origin and is believed responsible for a series of attacks on French soil in the 1990s.
The spokesman told the magazine that his group has contacted the French authorities and started negotiations.
"The goal was never to kill or hurt the hostages," he added.
Then he explained what al Qaeda-linked militants in the Sahara want:
The end of the French intervention in Mali; the liberation of Omar Abdel-Rahman, "the blind sheikh" incarcerated in the United States for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings; and the freeing of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist who is incarcerated in the United States on terrorism charges.
France denies any communication with Belmoktar's group, according to the publication.
Read more: Six reasons events in Mali matter
France sending more troops?
In recent weeks, French President Francois Hollande has said that if his country had not intervened, Mali "probably would have fallen into the hands of terrorists."
Now 3,150 French soldiers have been assigned to the French mission, dubbed Operation Serval. At least 2,150 of them are on Malian territory, the French have said.
The government is considering sending more troops, it said Monday.
The Islamists are well-equipped and well-trained, French officials have said. But advances made by the Malian army toward cities that the Islamists previously controlled "constitutes a certain military success for the Bamako government and for French forces," said French Defense Minister Jean-Yves le Drian.
"I reaffirm my total confidence in our soldiers who are in combat with determination in the mission decided by the French president." he said. "It aims to restore sovereignty to Mali on its territory and to prevent the risk of the constitution of a terrorist sanctuary in the heart of Africa."
Gunfire heard
Rebel control over Diabaly was one of the chief concerns to Mali and France as they tried to stop the Islamists' movement into the south.
French and Malian forces retook Konna from militants Friday, a French source said. But gunfire could still be heard there on Monday.
What's behind the instability in Mali?
As fighting continues, many people are being cut off and are in need of basic supplies.
The U.N. Security Council in December authorized the deployment of an African-led International Support Mission in Mali, and West African leaders met Saturday in Ivory Coast to discuss speeding up deployment of troops.
The regional bloc -- the Economic Community Of West African States -- has said it has 3,300 regional troops on standby.
It urged the United Nations to provide immediate logistical and financial support for African troops.
"The escalation of conflict in recent days reminds us of the importance of assuming our responsibilities very quickly in a dynamic of coordination with our partners," said Charles Koffi Diby, the Ivory Coast foreign minister. "We should act very quickly."
'It was absolutely necessary'
Despite its unilateral decision to get involved, France is seeking help from its regional allies and the international community.
Christian Rouyer, French ambassador to Mali, reiterated the need for the French offensive in Mali.
"We had a friendly country that was on the verge of dying," Rouyer said Friday. "It was absolutely necessary to act with urgency. We did it, I believe, with full knowledge of the reasons."
Leaders from several countries have offered troops or logistical support.
The European Union has approved a training mission. Canada and Britain are deploying military transport aircraft. Nigeria is set to deploy soldiers as part of the U.N.-mandated African force to fight the insurgents.
No military aid from U.S.
U.S. policy prohibits direct military aid to Mali because the fledgling government is the 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.
So far, the United States has only shared intelligence from intercepted signals and satellites with France, defense officials said.
U.S. trainers will be in African nations to prepare forces set to be deployed in Mali. Trainers will be in Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Ghana.
The United Nations is warning of a record number of Malians fleeing to neighboring nations.
The violence could soon displace up to 700,000 in the country and around the region, said Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency.
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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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