Mali official: Islamists driven from Konna

A Mali army official says that Islamist militants have been driven out of the Konna, a city the extremists captured this week.
Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said Saturday that the military does not yet control the city and are still searching for any hidden Islamist extremist elements there.
Sanda Abu Mohammed, spokesman for Islamist group Ansar Dine, told The Associated Press he could not confirm if his fighters were still in Konna because communication networks have been down since late Friday.
For the past nine months, the militants have controlled a large swath of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.
The French quickly mobilized and have launched strikes after the Islamists seized the city of Konna on Thursday, pushing closer to the army's major base in central Mali.