Boots on the ground in Mali
A child peers into a commercial van waiting at a military checkpoint in Niono. He is some 70 km (43 miles) from the central Malian town of Diabaly, recaptured by French and Malian troops from Islamist rebels on Jan 21.
France hailed the advance as a significant step in its campaign against Islamists who seized control of Mali's north last year, but the fight goes on with the stakes raised by the recent hostage crisis in nearby Algeria.
A Malian soldier holds a telephone after searching through debris at a Malian military camp in Diabaly, hit by French air strikes after it was taken over by al Qaeda-linked rebels a week earlier.
A French soldier stands guard in the town, which had harboured the main cluster of militants south of the frontline towns of Mopti and Sevare.
Malian soldiers speak to journalists in Niono, where French and Malian troops have set up an operations centre.
A Malian soldier stands next to a wall pockmarked by bullet holes after he searched through debris at the Malian military camp in Diabaly.
A Malian soldier smokes a cigarette.
Malian soldier Aliou Doumbe poses for a picture next to a photo studio in Niono.
A Malian soldier sleeps with his face covered in the back of a pickup truck.
Another Malian soldier sits on a wooden crate with a machine gun across his lap.
A French soldier sends a text message in front of a restaurant. The U.N.-mandated intervention in Mali was originally conceived as "African-led, African-owned", but with the Malian army in disarray and African neighbours scrambling to deploy troops, France has taken the lead in the operation.
Malian Corporal Diaby rests in the back of a pickup truck.
A villager looks at two charred pickup trucks used by Islamist rebels. Both were destroyed during fighting between the Malian army and rebels.
A French soldier stands guard in front of the burnt out trucks.
Maxwell Owura lies on a hospital bed in Niono. The 39-year-old barber was hit in the leg by a stray bullet during the fighting between the Malian army and rebels in Diabaly.
Malada Sidibe, her husband Barki Sidibe, and their grandson Nouhoum Sidibe sit on a hospital bed as they visit a relative who was also injured by a bullet in Diabaly.
Coumba Bah lies on a hospital bed next to her aunt Dado Diallo. Twelve-year-old Bah was hit in the knees by gunfire in Diabaly.
Health worker Koura Coulibaly poses for a picture in her office in Sarakala, where French ground troops are staying.
A Malian soldier peeks through a doorway behind which Malian and French soldiers are stationed.
Malian soldiers check a motorcyclist's identity papers.
A Malian gendarme checks the luggage of passengers taking a bus to flee the fighting.
