It was announced by the French Defense Ministry that France has 750 troops on Mali soil and nearly 1,700 additional troops will take part in the Mali offensive.

France’s president, Francois Hollande said the troops will not stay in the country permanently, but will continue until the African force was able and ready to take over.

The three aims of the Fench forces there are to stop the terrorist aggression from the north, secure the capital and to safeguard French nationals in that African country.

Airstrikes overnight struck around Diabaly, while French armored vehicles moved into the capital of Barnako from the Ivory Coast. The airstrikes on Diabaly come after extremists over-ran the village. This after France announced that they had halted the advance. The effects of the airstrikes are currently unknown.

France called for Arab support to bolster an African force to fight the insurgents today.

U.S. officials say that the Obama administration is preparing to ferry additional French troops to Mali as well as send surveillance equipment, including drones to that country. Assistance with re-fueling French fighter jets is also planned.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke to reporters while on a trip to Europe, saying, “We have promised that we will … provide whatever assistance we can to try to help them.” He also told reporters that the U.S. was already supplying France with intelligence help and that a small number of U.S. troops may be sent to Mali as well as other African countries in a limited support role.

The European Union has promised 250 military trainers and West African nations have promised 3,300 soldiers to fight alongside Malian troops, but their arrival is dependent on how quickly the troops could be transported, trained and financed.

Mali has been a model of democracy in Africa for two decades. But, in January 2012, an insurgency began that was led by the National Movement for the liberation of Azawad. By March, a military coup by rebel troops took place in the country and President Amadou Toumani Toure was ousted and the Prime Minister was forced to resign. Mutineering soldiers took control and suspended the Country’s constitution, Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups have moved into the northern region of the country and now that region is considered the largest territory controlled by Islamic extremists in the world. The region in the north, Azawad, has been insisting on independence since the 1990s. The fighters there are flush with cash from kidnapping and smuggling operations and are also well armed. It is believed that the extremists gained large amounts of military equipment and munitions after the fall of Kadafi’s regime in nearby Libya.

On French soil, the government there has increased domestic security, this was prompted by threats of Mali insurgents to bring the conflict to France. Checks have intensified at airports and train stations and 700 troops have been mobilized in the Paris area. France has a large African immigrant population as Mali was previously a colony of France. France seized control of Mali in the 1800s and Mali did not gain its independence back until 1960.