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The French army is in the process of staging a large operation against the Islamist fighters in Mali, a former French colony.

This comes ahead of elections expected to take place at the weekend.

On Sunday the people of Mali go to the polls in the second round of legislative elections. The vote is expected to see Mali return to democracy following the coup which took place in 2012 and left the country in turmoil.

A French military source in the Malian capital, Bamako, said “military operations are ongoing” after French troops killed 19 militants in the area on Tuesday.

“A very large military operation is under way, the largest in the Timbuktu region since allied forces retook the main northern cities,” said an African military source in Timbuktu.

In January another operation led by the French was carried out and managed to drive out the Al Qaeda linked radicals who had taken control of Northern Mali.

The battle is ongoing against Jihadists who are hiding in the northern desert.

According to a Malian military source, about 20 French helicopters were involved in the operation against the Al Qaeda and were being assisted by ground force.

“About 20 jihadists have already been killed north of Timbuktu,” said the Malian source.

The French are targeting the area near Taoudeni in the north of Timbuktu city.

Jihadist groups launched attacks in September and killed dozens of people.
Troops from various countries joined into a United Nations peace keeping force the MINUSMA have been in Mali fighting for almost a year.

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