French bomb Mali extremists

The "major" air strikes were carried out overnight in the Tessalit area north of Kidal, the last bastion of radicals who occupied the desert north for months before France's intervention, military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said.

Earlier, President Francois Hollande called on Africans to take over the fight against extremism as he received a rapturous welcome in Mali, where a French-led offensive has driven back Islamist rebels from the north.

The French leader's whirlwind tour came as troops worked to secure Kidal, the last bastion of radicals who seized control of Mali's desert north last year after a coup, raising fears that an area larger than France could become a safe haven for al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

In the fabled city of Timbuktu, thousands gathered in the central square, dancing to the beat of drums - a forbidden activity during the extremists' 10-month occupation - to welcome the French leader with shouts of "Vive la France! Long live Hollande!"

Hollande, whose surprise decision to intervene in Mali three weeks ago made him a hero in the former French colony, told the crowd France's mission was not finished, but that African countries would soon have to take over.

"It's not over yet. It's going to take several weeks, but our goal is to pass the baton," he said on Saturday.

"Our African friends will be able to do the job we've been doing until now."

Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, who joined hands with Hollande and raised them in a victory salute, thanked his counterpart for the French troops' "efficiency", which he said had allowed the north to be freed from "barbarity and obscurantism".

Hollande was offered a young camel as a gift of thanks as he toured the city.

"The women of Timbuktu will thank Francois Hollande forever," said 53-year-old Fanta Diarra Toure.

"We must tell him that he has cut down the tree, but still has to tear up its roots."

Hollande and Traore visited Timbuktu's 700-year-old mud mosque of Djingareyber and the Ahmed Baba library for ancient manuscripts, both targeted by destructive Islamist militants.

"There's a real desire to annihilate. There's nothing left," Hollande told the mosque's imam as they visited two ancient saints' tombs that the extremists attacked with pickaxes in July, considering them idolatrous.

"We're going to rebuild them, Mr President," said Irina Bokova, the head of UNESCO, which is trying to assess the scale of the damage to Mali's ancient heritage, particularly in Timbuktu, a caravan town at the edge of the Sahara that rose to fame in the 14th century as a gold and salt trading hub.

Hollande later travelled to the capital, Bamako, where he addressed a large crowd gathered at a monument commemorating Mali's independence from France.