The seizure of Gao, the most populated town in Mali’s northern region, was announced by the French defence ministry and confirmed by Malian security sources on Saturday.

As troops worked to secure Kidal, the last bastion of radicals who occupied the vast desert north for 10 months before the French army’s surprise intervention, Hollande told Malians it was time for Africans to take the lead but that France would not abandon them.

One of the Islamist groups that seized northern Mali earlier this year was claiming victory on Sunday over Tuareg fighters who tried to dislodge them.

At least three Islamists were killed in Timbuktu on Monday during a sweep by French and Malian soldiers after a deadly weekend battle in the fabled Saharan city, a military source said.