'65 extremists dead' in Mali clash

on 23/02/2013 12:37:29

Troops from Chad have killed 65 Islamic extremist rebels and destroyed five vehicles in fierce fighting in northern Mali, the country's military said today.

Thirteen Chadian soldiers were killed and six wounded in the fighting in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains of north-eastern Mali, the army said in a statement on state broadcasters.

Chad has deployed 1,800 troops in Mali as part of the French-led military intervention to wrest control of northern Mali from Islamic radicals linked to al-Qaida.

The Islamic rebels retreated to mountainous hideouts near Mali's northern border with Algeria after being expelled at the end of January by French and Malian forces from the major towns in northern Mali.