French Rafale fighter jets head to Mali from the Saint Dizier airbase in eastern France. French airstrikes pounded central Mali today Laure-Anne Maucorps / AP Photo
A Rafale fighter is armed. A Malian commander in the nearby town of Niono said the bombardments did not stop the extremist fighters and that they occupied Alatona. Laure-Anne Maucorps / Reuters
Francois Hollande, the French president, right, speaks with members of Malian associations in France during a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Nigeria agreed on Saturday to send soldiers, a day after France authorised air strikes, dispatching fighter jets from neighboring Chad. Philippe Wojazer / AP Photo
Malians in Bamako look at frontpages focusing on France's military intervention to turn back the terrorist threat in Mali. Eric Feferberg / AFP Photo
People in the Mali capital donate blood ready for injured civilians. Issouf Sanogo / AFP PHOTO
Soldiers man a checkpoint at a bridge in Markala, approximately 40 km outside Segou on the road to Diabaly, which is now under Islamist occupation. Harouna Traore / AP Photo
In Paris, soldiers patrol under the Eiffel Tower. Islamist forces based in northern Mali vowed to avenge France's military offensive against them on French soil. Joel Saget / AFP Photo
Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister. Germany will not send forces to Mali but is ready to offer France logistical or other support, the government said today. Carsten Rehder / EPA
Meanwhile in Somalia, a second French commando is believed to have been killed by militants in Mogadishu. The soldier is thought to have been killed during a botched military raid on Saturday to rescue a French intelligence officer held by the Al Shabab group since July 2009. France believes the hostage, whose code-name was Denis Allex, pictured was also killed, although Al Shabab said he is still alive. EPA
France widens its bombing campaign against Islamist extremists advancing from northern Mali, launching airstrikes for the first time in the central parts of the African country.
