Troops seize another town (Hombori) in northern Mali

French and Malian troops have captured the town of Hombori in northern Mali, another way station en route to the rebel stronghold of Gao.

"At present, Malian and French soldiers are in Hombori," said a teacher on Friday in the town, which lies 920km north of the capital Bamako and 200km west of Gao. "There are no longer any Islamists on the ground."

A Malian security source said the troops would press on to Gao, one of the three major northern towns, along with Kidal and Timbuktu, where the al Qaeda-linked rebels have held power for ten months.

To the west, the source added, French-led forces who had recaptured the town of Diabaly on Monday were pushing towards the town of Lere with the aim of "taking control of Timbuktu" further north.

Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal were seized by an alliance of Tuareg rebels and Islamist groups last year. The Islamists hijacked the rebellion and sidelined the Tuaregs.

But as the French-led assault against the rebels controlling northern Mali entered its third week, aid workers have warned about a growing food crisis for civilians.

Hundreds of thousands of Malians, mainly Tuaregs, are escaping rebel-held areas in the north fearing a backlash.

Refugees have been fleeing to the Malian-Mauritanian border, and the UN expects as many as 700,000 civilians will be displaced by the fighting.

- Aljazeera

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