French and Malian forces approach Timbuktu

Troops are said to be pressing towards key city in northern Mali after seizing Gao from al-Qaida-linked Islamists French and Malian troops have held a strategic bridge and the airport in the northern town of Gao as their force presses towards Timbuktu, officials say. The advances come as French and African land forces also make their way to Gao from neighbouring Niger in an effort to defeat the al-Qaida-linked Islamists who seized control of northern Mali more than nine months ago. The French mi...