MALI-FRANCE-CONFLICT

Malian soldiers stand next to a military vehicule, on January 19, 2013, in city of Niono. Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on January 19 called for a broader international commitment to the military operations in Mali, where Malian and French forces are battling Islamist militant groups that control the country's vast arid north. Some 2,000 members of MISMA (the International Mission for Mali Assistance), the African intervention force, are expected to be deployed by January 26. About 100 soldiers from Togo and Nigeria have already arrived in Bamako, and another 30 or so from Benin are en route to join them. AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO (Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images)