Economic Community of West African States is to deploy a force to retake northern Mali from Islamists, Ivory Coast

Earlier Malian Islamists announced the capture of Kona, located in the north-east of the country which is under the control of government forces.

     

militant Islamists

                                                    

Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore had appealed for French help in stopping the rebels.

President Dioncounda Traore

          

                               

The UN has condemned the attack while France has already sent a group of military advisers to the country.
                                     

                           

Meanwhile, The Obama administration affirmed Friday that it supports a French military intervention to repel efforts by militant Islamists in Mali to take over the southern part of the country.“We are monitoring the situation closely,” White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor said. “We have noted that the government of Mali has asked for support, and we share the French goal of denying terrorists a safe haven in the region

                                

The French intervened with air strikes and reportedly with ground forces on Friday at the urging of Malian President Dioncounda Traore. The United Nations Security Council in December approved the creation of an African-led force to take back the northern half of the country, but Friday's intervention was precipitated after Islamists took over the central town of Konna, near the strategically crucial city  of Mopti.

Francois Hollande

                       
                                       

                                     

The country has been split in half since al Qaeda-linked Islamists and rebel Tuaregs took over the northern half of the country following a military coup last March.