French and Malian troops enter Diabaly

French-led forces will likely face stiffer resistance as they proceed north into rebel-held territory [AFP]

French and Malian troops have entered the key central Malian town of Diabaly, which has faced heavy airstrikes and fighting since being seized by al-Qaeda-linked rebels a week ago.

A convoy of about 30 armoured vehicles carrying some 200 French and Malian soldiers moved into the town on Monday at about 0900 GMT, without meeting resistance.

Diabaly, 350 km north of the capital Bamako, had harboured the main cluster of rebels south of the frontline towns of Mopti and Sevare until French air attacks forced them to flee or attempt to blend in with locals, residents said.

A colonel in the Malian army had said earlier that a "fringe of the Diabaly population adheres to the jihadists' theories and we must be very careful in the coming hours".

French television footage from Diabaly has shown charred pick-up trucks abandoned by al Qaeda-linked rebels amid mud brick homes.

One resident said the rebels had fled the town which was abandoned by many of its residents, and those remaining lacked food and other essentials.

Checking for landmines

Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from the capital Bamako, said that the French military has not yet declared control of the town.

“They want to check the area for landmines, booby traps, before they can confidently say they have completely retaken that town from the rebels,” she said. 

As French troops began a deployment towards the rebel-held north, moving into the strategic central towns of Niono and Sevare on Sunday, Paris said the aim of the 11-day old military offensive was total victory.

"The goal is the total reconquest of Mali," Jean-Yves Le Drian, French defence minister, said in televised remarks.

"We will not leave any pockets" of resistance.

France began its military offensive in Mali on January 11, and has said that African nations must take the lead though it could be some weeks before they are ready to do so.

Rebels in Mali were reported Sunday to be abandoning some of their positions and converging on the mountainous region of Kidal, their northernmost bastion, 1,500km from Bamako and near the border with Algeria.