Mali conflict: France boosts troop number

France has increased its troop strength in Mali to 1,400 to help fight militant Islamists in the north, the French defence minister has said.

France said it launched military action in its former colony last Friday to stop it becoming a "terrorist state" after a rapid advance by the Islamists.

Heavy fighting has been continuing, with French forces bombing Diabaly, 350km (220 miles) north of the capital.

Troops pledged by West African nations have also started arriving in Mali.

Some 100 Togolese soldiers landed in Bamako on Thursday, with 80 Nigerian troops expected shortly.

In Brussels, the EU foreign ministers agreed to press ahead with sending a team to train the weak Malian army.

France has been pushing hard for the deployment of West African troops and the arrival of the first Nigerian troops should bring some relief to French soldiers who are only getting limited support from the fairly weak Malian army, analysts say.

It is not yet known exactly what role the West African troops will play or how well prepared they are for what is expected to be a challenging ground assault against the Islamist militants.

The UK has provided transport planes, and on Wednesday Germany gave two transport planes as logistical support.

Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize northern Mali in April 2012. But the Islamists soon took control of the region's major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.