Cairo - Al-Qaeda linked militants in Egypt were planning to target both the US and French embassies in the country, before their plot was foiled.

Bamako - Malian troops are headed for the northeastern town of Kidal to take control from Tuareg separatists. The French allowed the MNLA to run Kidal, as they supported the French operation.

Bamako - According to the Nigerian Defense Headquarters (DHQ), a Nigerian Air Force jet deployed to operations in Mali crashed in Niger Republic Monday. Two Nigerian Air Force pilots died in the crash.

Bamako - Islamic militants, who earlier had occupied the northern part of Mali continue suicide and other attacks in several cities from which the French and other forces had driven them several months ago.

Benghazi - A CNN report citing several unnamed US security officials connected to the Benghazi investigation, have alleged that members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), were involved in the US consulate attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Bamako - The US has expressed support for the French mission in Mali ever since France sent troops in January this year. At the same time it insisted that troops on the ground were not being considered. Now there are at least a few on the ground.

France’s Defence Ministry announced yesterday that a French soldier, Master Corporal Stéphane Duval, aged 32, a member of the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, died yesterday afternoon in the north-east Mali between Tin Zaouaten and Boughessa.

Bamako - Chad has suffered the most casualties of any of Mali's allies fighting against insurgents in northern Mali. On Friday (March 12) 3 Chadian soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in the northern Mali town of Kidal.

Bamako - France has begun to withdraw a few troops from Mali as more than 6,000 African troops help French troops and the Malian military control the north of the country after the French helped drive out Islamic insurgents from the area.

French military forces have launched one of their biggest operations in Mali today, with Operation Gustav. At least one thousand French soldiers are taking part in the operation.

An audio recording by Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was released today on several militant websites. The audio recording, produced by AQ's media wing As-Sahab, was under two hours long, with the Al-Qaeda leader discussing a wide variety of issues.

AQIM has released a statement published on Islamist internet sites denying French claims that it had killed one of it's leaders.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib today claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack in the city of Timbuktu. The group released it's statement of responsibility on the Al-Sharq website.

Malian soldiers alongside French Army troops searched the northern Malian city of Timbuktu for Islamist rebels who may still be in hiding following recent skirmishes.

The Mali town of Gao which was liberated by the French Army last January has once again come under attack by Islamist rebels currently fighting against the Malian government.

Another soldier in the 4,000-man French military force involved in a nine-week-old invasion aimed at blunting the advance of Islamic extremists in Mali was killed Saturday.

The French military invasion of Mali designed to halt the movement of Islamic extremists in that country has not succeeded, according to U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley.

Bamako - Private media have imposed a news blackout subsequent to the arrest of editor Boukary Daou. Daou had published a letter about poor conditions from Malian soldiers fighting in the north against Islamist rebels.

France's Defence Minister has claimed that French forces have located and dismantled a major base belonging to AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib).

One of Al-Qaeda's senior commanders has been killed in fighting between Chadian soldiers and militants in Northern Mali.