TOPSHOT-MALI-FRANCE-CONFLICT

TOPSHOT - A man prays as Malian soldiers man the entrance to a strategic bridge on the Niger river on January 22, 2013 near Markala, 270 kms north of Bamako. Mali's army chief said on January 22 that his French-backed forces could reclaim the northern towns of Gao and fabled Timbuktu from Islamists in a month, as more offers of aid poured in for the offensive. French planes bombed a major base of the Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) near Timbuktu as local sources said a mansion belonging to Libyan former strongman Moamer Kadhafi was destroyed. AFP PHOTO / ERIC FEFERBERG (Photo by Eric Feferberg / AFP) (Photo by ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP via Getty Images)