France accuses militants of using human shields, as five Japanese nationals and a French citizen kidnapped in Algeria

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

French troops will be in direct combat with Islamist militants in Mali "within hours", France's military chief of staff has said.

Admiral Édouard Guillaud said on Wednesday morning that French ground operations had begun overnight – hours after the defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said France's intervention would continue "as long as necessary".

Le Drian had confirmed on Tuesday night that the French intervention in Mali would take the form of both air and ground operations, while preparations continue for the arrival of a west African force."Now we're on the ground," Guillaud said. "We will be in direct combat within hours."

Guillaud accused the insurgents of taking human shields and said France would do its utmost to make sure civilians were not wrongly targeted. "When in doubt, we will not fire," he said.

President François Hollande said on Tuesday France would only end its intervention in Mali when political stability and an election process had been restored and Islamist groups had been wiped out, raising the prospect of a drawn-out engagement on hostile desert terrain.

And in a sign that the French intervention may trigger further retaliation by militant Islamists, at least eight foreigners were kidnapped in neighbouring Algeria on Wednesday morning.

The foreigners were taken from an oil facility in Ain Amenas in southern Algeria, Reuters reported. French foreign ministry officials said they had no immediate comment on the hostage report and were still trying to verify the information.

A column of French armoured vehicles left Mali's capital Bamako late on Tuesday night and headed north towards insurgent frontlines.

Map of Mali

Military sources said French and Malian government troops had encircled the central town of Diabaly, which was overrun by Islamists on Monday, after advancing to the nearby town of Niono on Tuesday. Diabaly is 220 miles (350km) from Bamako.

"French forces have secured Niono to stop the Islamists advancing to Ségou while the Malian army is securing the border area with Mauritania," a source told Reuters. "They are now encircled and a final assault is only a matter of time."

Mali is in political disarray after a coup last year and the fall of the vast northern desert to Islamist groups who operate a drug trafficking and kidnap economy in several Sahel countries.

Le Drian said French air raids continued "day and night" in the vast area seized by the Islamist alliance, which combines al-Qaida's north African wing, AQIM, with Mali's homegrown Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mojwa) and Ansar Dine rebel groups.

Le Drian described a difficult fight against Islamists who were "agile, determined, well-equipped, well-trained" and could easily hide in the desert.

He said that since Saturday, round-the-clock French air raids had been aimed at stopping the Islamist advance southwards towards Bamako, and destroying training camps, command structures and any rear bases in the north.

Le Drian said the Malian army had still not retaken town of Konna, which fell to the Islamists last Thursday, triggering the sudden French intervention on Friday. The Red Cross said the army had sustained casualties.

A French military spokesman said the Islamists had managed to seize more territory despite the air assault, because the fighters were embedding themselves with the population, making it difficult to bomb without causing civilian casualties.

France is to increase its contingent of 1,700 troops engaged in the mission, including 800 soldiers already on the ground, to 2,500.

West African armies are scrambling to join the operation, brought forward by France's air campaign to stop the rebel advance. France has carried out 50 bombing raids since Friday.

On a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Hollande said France had three aims: to stop the rebel advances, to secure Bamako and to help the Mali government regain control of the whole country. He said France would take a lesser role "as soon as there is an African force, in coming days or weeks", adding that France did not intend to stay.

In response to questions about a return to France's controversial and shadowy role pulling strings in its former colonies, Hollande said the Mali intervention, in an international legal framework with UN backing, had nothing to do with the practices of "a bygone era". He said: "France should only intervene in Africa in exceptional circumstances and for a limited time. That's what we will do."

But he added that France's role was to ensure that "when we end our intervention, Mali is safe, has legitimate authorities, an electoral process and there are no more terrorists threatening its territory".

Asked what France intended to do with the Islamists, Hollande said: "Destroy them. Take them captive, if possible."

West African defence chiefs met in Bamako to approve plans to speed up the deployment of 3,300 regional troops, foreseen in a UN-backed intervention plan to be led by Africans. After failing to reach a final agreement, they adjourned their talks until Wednesday.

Troops from the Ecowas grouping of west African states are expected to be deployed within a week to bolster the Malian army.

Nigeria, which is due to lead the African mission, pledged to deploy soldiers within 24 hours. However, with its own army under pressure on several fronts and the sudden Mali intervention leaving little time for planning, Nigeria had already cautioned that even if some troops arrived in Mali swiftly, their training and equipping would take more time.

The UN refugee agency said the clashes in northern Mali were adding to the already large numbers of displaced people.

An agency spokesman, Adrian Edwards, said 1,230 refugees from Mali had arrived in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania as a result of recent clashes between the French-backed Malian army and the rebel groups. More than 144,000 fled to neighbouring countries in 2012, and nearly 200,000 in northern Mali were displaced within the country.

Earlier on Tuesday the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said the current level of French involvement in Mali would go on for "a matter of weeks".

But a Mojwa commander told Associated Press: "I would advise France not to sing their victory song too quickly. They managed to leave Afghanistan. They will never leave Mali."

In Lisbon, the US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, said no American troops would be put on the ground in Mali. The US is providing intelligence-gathering assistance to the French, and officials would not rule out having American aircraft land there to provide airlift and logistical support.

A meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday is expected to define what kind of support will be provided to the African mission in Mali.