“France to Pull out Troops from Mali by April”
France [says] it will start withdrawing its troops from Mali by April, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday. - "From April, we will start decreasing the number of troops engaged in Mali," Fabius stated. However, "This does not mean that we will go overnight," he added. The military campaign in the Ifoghas mountain range, the stronghold of extremist fighters in northern Mali will end "within weeks," the French top diplomat said. Asked if al-Qaeda main figures Abou Zeid and Mokhtar Belmokhtar were killed in fighting, the French minister said "many leaders were among the hundreds of terrorists who have been killed during the operation," without giving accurate details on their identities.
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