Fighting continues in Mali as France makes further headway in its mission to rid the country of Islamic rebels.

The Fench Defense Minister reported Friday that special forces has moved on and seized the airport in Tessalit in the Kidal region. Troops from Chad are assisting the French as they continue efforts to secure the town itself.

Now with another base in their hands, France is working to root out the militants who have fled into the Saharan desert to escape France’s advance through the northern region of the country.

Violence continues in other parts of the country. A suicide bomber, riding a motorcycle, detonated himself less than 30 feet from a security checkpoint in Gao. The fear of other suicide bombers is keeping many of the inhabitants of the town from going to market or to Friday prayers as they are uncertain that the bomber was targeting the checkpoint or trying to gain access to the town itself. This was the first suicide-bomber attack in the country since the launch of operations by the French on January 11th. One soldier was killed in that incident.

In Mali’s capital, several hours of gunfire erupted from the elite paramilitary camp in Bamako. The paramilitary group, known as the “red berets,” had refused to redeploy to the northern part of the country and resisted military police. Armored vehicles surrounded the camp as smoke rose from within as Malian troops subdued the mutinous group. One person was killed in that incident.

Despite continueing signs of unrest, France says it is still on schedule to leave the country within weeks after handing control of the operations over to West African and Malian Units.

France proposed to the United Nations Security Counci on Wednesday to approve a peace-keeping force for Mali after it withdraws.