Admiral Édouard Guillaud said on Wednesday morning that French ground operations had begun overnight – hours after the defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said France's intervention would continue "as long as necessary".
Le Drian had confirmed on Tuesday night that the French intervention in Mali would take the form of both air and ground operations, while preparations continue for the arrival of a west African force."Now we're on the ground," Guillaud said. "We will be in direct combat within hours."
Guillaud accused the insurgents of taking human shields and said France would do its utmost to make sure civilians were not wrongly targeted. "When in doubt, we will not fire," he said.
President François Hollande said on Tuesday France
would only end its intervention in Mali when political stability and an election process had been restored and Islamist groups had been wiped out, raising the prospect of a drawn-out engagement on hostile desert terrain.
And in a sign that the French intervention may trigger further retaliation by militant Islamists, at least eight foreigners were kidnapped in neighbouring Algeria on Wednesday morning.
The foreigners were taken from an oil facility in Ain Amenas in southern Algeria, Reuters reported. French foreign ministry officials said they had no immediate comment on the hostage report and were still trying to verify the information.
A column of French armoured vehicles left Mali's capital Bamako late on Tuesday night and headed north towards insurgent frontlines.
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