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French armoured personnel carriers (VAB) leave the city of Gao during the "Gustav operation" on April 6, 2013. A French force of 1,000 soldiers has begun on a sweep of a river valley thought to be a logistics base for armed Islamists near the Malian city of Gao, an AFP journalist accompanying the mission said. Operation Gustav, one of France's largest actions since its intervention against insurgents in January, will involve dozens of tanks, helicopters, drones and airplanes, said General Bernard Barrera, commander of the French land forces in Mali. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518729024 )

This Feb. 12, 2013 file photo shows travelers driving from Niamey, Niger, lining up to be searched at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali. Al-Qaida's North African arm is trying something new to stay relevant: Twitter. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is trying to move the battleground elsewhere, seeking to tap into social grievances and champion mainstream causes such as unemployment, all in bid to reverse decline and win new followers, appealing to widespread concerns, such as the repression and a sense of injustice that galvanized the Arab Spring revolts. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) ( Al Qaida Charm Offensive )

French soldiers from the 92nd Regiment Infantery burn items allegedly belonging to Mujao forces on April 8, 2013 during a military operation some 105 kilometers North of Gao. A French force of 1,000 soldiers in a major offensive has swept a valley thought to be a logistics base for Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists near the Malian city of Gao. Operation Gustav, one of France's largest actions since its intervention against insurgents in January, will involve dozens of tanks, helicopters, drones and airplanes, said General Bernard Barrera, commander of the French land forces in Mali. France is to start withdrawing its 4,000 troops from Mali at the end of April, and plans to leave a "support force" of 1,000 soldiers after elections promised for July. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518756895 )

A French soldier of the Serval operation in Mali stands in front of a Harfang drone on April 26, 2013 on the French army base of Niamey. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images ( 519269941 )

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian adresses to French soldiers of Serval Operation, on April 26, 2013 in French Army base of Gao. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images ( 519268519 )

International officials leave Bamako's Conference Centre after attending the 4th meeting of the support and follow-up group on the situation in Mali, on April 19, 2013 in Bamako. HABIBOU KOUYATE/AFP/Getty Images ( 519048824 )

Soldiers of the first Parachute Chasseur Regiment (RCP) of Pamiers and of the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (RAP) of Tarbes wait for their luggage as they come back from the Serval military operation in Mali, at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, southwestern France, on April 11, 2013. The first French soldiers came back from Mali on April 11, marking the gradual withdrawal of the French troops, three months after the beginning of the Serval operation in the African country. ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty Images ( 518818065 )

French soldiers train Ivorian troops in Toumodi, before Ivorian troops depart for Mali, April 6, 2013. REUTERS/Luc Gnago ( IVORYCOAST/ )

Ivory Coast Republican Forces (FRCI) soldiers of the logistics battalion, part of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA - MISMA in French) leave Ivory Coast's army headquarters in Abidjan on May 2, 2013 for Bamako, Mali. The UN Security Council on April 25, 2013 unanimously agreed to send a 12,600-member international force to Mali to take over from French and African troops battling Islamist guerrillas. The United Nations is aiming for a July 1 start by the new force, but the 15-nation council will decide later whether the conflict has eased enough for the handover. ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images ( 519413050 )

A hair dresser stands outside his shop in Gao on April 13, 2013. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518907727 )

A Malian works on the building of the new market in Gao port on April 4, 2013 .The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518646657 )

Soldiers of the 2nd RIMA (French Marine Infantry Regiment) from Le Mans, who took part in the French-led Operation Serval in Mali, return after serving in Mali to their barracks at the Auvours military base in Champagne, western France on April 26, 2013. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived the day before in the Malian capital Bamako on the first leg of a tour of several countries to prepare for a post-war Mali. Le Drian's visit comes shortly after the beginning of a phased withdrawal of the 4,500-strong French contingency which will see just 1,000 troops left in Mali by the end of the year. JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images ( 519251420 )

Ivory Coast Republican Forces (FRCI) chief of staff, general Soumaila Bakayoko, reviews soldiers of a logistic battalion, part of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA - MISMA in French), before they leave Ivory Coast's army headquarters in Abidjan on May 2, 2013 for Bamako, Mali. The UN Security Council on April 25, 2013 unanimously agreed to send a 12,600-member international force to Mali to take over from French and African troops battling Islamist guerrillas. The United Nations is aiming for a July 1 start by the new force, but the 15-nation council will decide later whether the conflict has eased enough for the handover. ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images ( 519413090 )

TOPSHOTS Malian soldiers take position after a wrong alert by the population signaling Mujaho's members in a street in Gao on April 13, 2013. Gao fell in March last year to Tuareg rebels who declared the independence of the entire desert north before losing control to armed Islamists. French warplanes bombed parts of Gao in January to drive out fighters from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), and the city was recaptured for the Bamako government by French and Malian forces on January 26. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518897727 )

Boats are moored at Gao's port near the Niger river on April 4, 2013. The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518644325 )

This March 8, 2013 photo provided by the French Army Communications Audiovisual Office (ECPAD) shows French soldiers patrolling the Mettatai region in northern Mali. The Security Council unanimously approved a new U.N. peacekeeping force for Mali on Thursday, April 25, 2013 to help restore democracy and stabilize the northern half of the country which was controlled by Islamist jihadists until a France-led military operation ousted them three months ago. (AP Photo/ECPAD, Arnaud Roine) ( UN Mali )

Deminors of the French army are at work at an archeological site of Gao, on April 5, 2013. The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518664408 )

Young boys play with a babyfoot near a poster displaying a campaign against Aids on April 4, 2013 in Gao. The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518648816 )

A French soldier keeps a lookout next to children in a street of Gao, on April 5, 2013. The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518669255 )

A malian Special Force soldier speaks to a child during the Operation Gustav, a hunt for Islamist fighters in a valley in northern Mali and one of France's largest military operations during its three-month intervention in its former colony, on April 9, 2013, 105 km North of Gao. Operation Gustav comes with France preparing to withdraw three-quarters of the 4,000 troops it deployed in January to block a feared advance on the Malian capital Bamako by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518759677 )

French soldiers drink water after a patrol in a street of Gao, on April 5, 2013. The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518664119 )

French soldiers hold tools to help a VBCI armoured vehicle stuck in mud on a mission north of Gao, March 9, 2013. France's 31 billion euro ($40 billion) defence budget, already watered down in recent years, could be on the chopping block as President Hollande seeks savings to offset a groaning deficit and weak economic growth. Cuts could send shockwaves not only through the military but through the economy itself, where the industry employs 165,000 people and accounts for 2.25 percent of output, according to the World Bank, compared with 1.3 percent in Germany. On Monday, the government presents a five-year blueprint for military strategy that the army fears could cut its staff and international bases and undermine France's capabilities in future global conflicts. Picture taken March 9, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney/Files ( FRANCE-DEFENCE/ )

French soldiers from the 92nd Infantery Regiment stand on April 7, 2013 near boxes containing 340 Chinese rockets allegedly belonging to Mujao forces, found some 105 kilometers North of Gao. A French force of 1,000 soldiers has begun a sweep of a river valley thought to be a logistics base for armed Islamists near the Malian city of Gao, an AFP journalist accompanying the mission said. Operation Gustav, one of France's largest actions since its intervention against insurgents in January, will involve dozens of tanks, helicopters, drones and airplanes, said General Bernard Barrera, commander of the French land forces in Mali. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518729486 )

A malian Special Force soldier sits during the Operation Gustav, a hunt for Islamist fighters in a valley in northern Mali and one of France's largest military operations during its three-month intervention in its former colony, on April 9, 2013, 105 km North of Gao. Operation Gustav comes with France preparing to withdraw three-quarters of the 4,000 troops it deployed in January to block a feared advance on the Malian capital Bamako by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518762028 )

Malian people wait to be questioned by Malian and French soldiers during the Operation Gustav, a hunt for Islamist fighters in a valley in northern Mali and one of France's largest military operations during its three-month intervention in its former colony, on April 9, 2013, 105 km North of Gao. Operation Gustav comes with France preparing to withdraw three-quarters of the 4,000 troops it deployed in January to block a feared advance on the Malian capital Bamako by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518765482 )

French soldier from the 126 RI stands guard near a well during the Operation Gustav, a hunt for Islamist fighters in a valley in northern Mali and one of France's largest military operations during its three-month intervention in its former colony, on April 9, 2013, 105 km North of Gao. Operation Gustav comes with France preparing to withdraw three-quarters of the 4,000 troops it deployed in January to block a feared advance on the Malian capital Bamako by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518765896 )

Men transport humanitarian food aid onto small flat bottom boats at Mopti in this February 4, 2013 file photo. A White House plan to modernize the major U.S. Food aid program, by donating cash rather than American-grown food, is in trouble after fierce lobbying by farm groups, food processors, shippers and others who set out to sink the idea months before it was unveiled in President Barack Obama's fiscal 2014 budget. REUTERS/Alain Amontchi ( USA-FOODAID/LOBBYING )

French soldiers patrol on at Gao's port near the Niger river on April 4, 2013 The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518645650 )

Burkinabe President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo (4th R), speaks to military officers during a visit to Franco-African troops in Gao on April 21, 2013. Ouedraogo encouraged Franco-African troops in Mali to "not release the pressure" against the Islamists armed groups. AFP PHOTO /STRSTR/AFP/Getty Images ( 519111118 )

Chadian Army soldiers patrol on April 16, 2013 in the northeastern Malian city of Kidal. Chadian President Idriss Deby, who sent 2,000 troops to Mali, announced on April 14 that its forces would be staging their own withdrawal ahead of schedule from the present 6,000-strong African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA). French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on April 18 that Mauritania was ready to send 1,800 soldiers into neighboring Mali as part of an incoming UN peacekeeping force as France and Chad phase in troop drawdown. AFP PHOTO / STR-/AFP/Getty Images ( 519020170 )

A Malian Special Force soldier and a French soldier question people during the Operation Gustav, a hunt for Islamist fighters in a valley in northern Mali and one of France's largest military operations during its three-month intervention in its former colony, on April 9, 2013, 105 km North of Gao. Operation Gustav comes with France preparing to withdraw three-quarters of the 4,000 troops it deployed in January to block a feared advance on the Malian capital Bamako by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images ( 518765399 )

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian shakes hands with African soldiers of Serval Operation, on April 26, 2013 in French Army base of Gao. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images ( 519265960 )

France's Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L) meets with Chad's President Idriss Deby (R) at the presidential palace in N'Djamena on April 27, 2013. Chad should remain militarily involved in Mali, Le Drian said Saturday in N'Djamena on a tour of the region to drum up support for a robust force when his own troops pull out. Mali called on France's help in January to halt an Islamist advance on Bamako and French and African troops have since pushed the Al-Qaeda-linked militants into desert and mountain hideouts, from where they are staging guerrilla attacks. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images ( 519292944 )

Soldiers from Ivory Coast's Republican Forces (FRCI) take part in a military exercise with French troops from the "Licorne" operation based in Abidjan, on April 6, 2013 in Lomo Sud, about 180 km north of Abidjan. FRCI soldiers are members of the Ivorian logistics battalion due to join the African-led MISMA forces in Mali. ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images ( 518692512 )