PARIS — French airstrikes overnight in Mali pushed back Islamist rebels from a key village and destroyed a rebel command center, France said Saturday, as West African nations authorized what they said would be a fast deployment of troops to Mali in support of the weak government there.

France intervened Friday, dropping bombs and firing rockets from helicopter gunships and jet fighters after the Islamist rebels who control the north of Mali pressed southward, overrunning the village of Konna. The French, who had earlier said they would not intervene militarily but only help African troops, took action in response to an appeal by the Malian president, and officials said military operations were continuing Saturday.

Lt. Col. Diarran Kone, spokesman for the Malian army, said some civilians and Malian soldiers had died in the effort to retake Konna. “Zero deaths is not possible,” he said. “That is the ideal, but in a military operation, it is not possible.” French officials said one French pilot had also died.

France, the United States and other Western nations have been increasingly anxious about the Islamists’ tightening grip on the north of the country, which they said was becoming a haven for militants, including those with links to al-Qaida, who threaten not only their neighbors, but the West. On Saturday, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, chief of staff of the French armed forces, said French forces had no plans to extend operations to northern areas controlled by the Islamists, but would expect to help African forces do the job when they arrive.

“The quicker the African mission is on the ground, the less we will need to help the Malian army,” Guillaud said. He said more military planes had been sent to Africa for possible use in Mali, and that Rafale fighter jets could strike from France. “We are in the buildup phase of operations,” he said.

The French president, Francois Hollande, said the current French mission — named “Serval,” after an African wildcat — would last “as long as necessary,” but he also stressed that it was limited to “preparing for the deployment of an African intervention force.”

France and the United States aim to assist African and Malian troops to restore government authority in the north by providing surveillance and intelligence, including the use of spy planes and drones, as well as helping with logistics and the transport of troops and equipment.

French officials said they had asked Washington to speed up its contribution by sending drones to improve surveillance over the vast area of northern Mali. The French have only two such drones. The Americans are also expected to help with refueling aircraft, and the Pentagon is reported to be studying the French request.

The U.N. Security Council had earlier agreed that troops from the 15-nation regional bloc known as ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, and European Union trainers would help the fragile government in Bamako win back the north of the country, where the Islamists have set up harsh rule under Shariah law in the nine months since the army fled the area. But both groups had been slow to deploy.

With the fall of Konna and the movement of the Islamist fighters south, the ECOWAS commission president, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, said Saturday that the group had authorized an immediate deployment of troops “in light of the urgency of the situation,” according to news reports. But he did not specify how many troops would be sent to Mali.

“By Monday by the latest, the troops will be there or will have started to arrive,” said Ali Coulibaly, Ivory Coast’s African integration minister.

Most of the ECOWAS troops are expected to come from Nigeria, Niger, Senegal and Togo and be commanded by a Nigerian general. ECOWAS hopes for some 3,300 troops.

In a brief televised statement Saturday evening, Hollande said that as a result of the Mali intervention, he had asked for increased security at government buildings and in public spaces in France.