France to begin troops withdrawal from Mali in April – Hollande

France will start withdrawing troops from Mali next month, President Francois Hollande said on
Wednesday, confirming that “terrorist leaders’’ had been killed in the north of the country.

Speaking during a visit to Warsaw, Hollande said France would start repatriating some of its 4,000 troops in Mali “from April.’’

Meanwhile, the onslaught by French and Chadian forces against Islamist militants in the mountains of north-east Mali was showing “success, which will be shown in the coming days, including terrorist leaders who have been killed,’’ he said.

Chad reported last week that Abdelhamid Abou Zeid and Mokhtar Belmokhtar, two terrorist leaders, had been killed. France has yet to confirm their deaths. (dpa/NAN)