A soldier patrols on March 16, 2013 in the Adrar of the Ifoghas mountain range in northern Mali. By Kenzo Tribouillard (AFP)
PARIS (AFP) – French troops will begin pulling out of troubled Mali “from the end of April”, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told parliament on Wednesday.
Ayrault said a meeting next Monday between lawmakers in France’s National Assembly and Senate would assess the involvement of French troops to help flush out Islamist rebels in the west African country “even if our troops will begin coming home from the end of April”.