World & Nation

French military attacks Islamist extremists in northern Mali

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, center, leads a ceremony in Paris to pay tribute to Lt. Damien Boiteux, a French helicopter pilot killed in Mali.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, center, leads a ceremony in Paris to pay tribute to Lt. Damien Boiteux, a French helicopter pilot killed in Mali.  (Yoan Valat / EPA)

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The sudden French military intervention against Islamist extremists in northern Mali raises questions about France’s ability to rout the well-armed militants from a forbidding section of North Africa. French officials have pledged to carry out a “short” military campaign, but there were signs Monday that the militants, including Al Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, had launched a counteroffensive.

French troops prepare for Mali deployment

French troops prepare armored vehicles in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, before their deployment in the north of Mali.   (Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images)

French troops await Mali deployment

Two French soldiers talk as armored vehicles based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, are prepared to go into Mali.   (Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images)

French troops wait at Mali air base

Soldiers from the 2nd French Navy Infantry Regiment, arriving from France, wait at the 101 military air base near Bamako before their deployment in northern Mali. France is using air and ground power in a joint offensive with Malian soldiers launched on Jan. 11 against hard-line Islamist groups controlling northern Mali.  (Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images)

French troops in Bamako

French soldiers sit in a Malian military vehicle at the 101 military air base near Bamako,the capital. France is using air and ground power in a joint offensive with Malian soldiers targeting Islamist militants controlling northern Mali.  (Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images)

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