Number 10 confirms UK troops will be sent to Mali in a training role to aid the French-led mission against Islamist militants.
A Malian soldier stands guard near an armoured vehicle in the recently liberated town of Konna.
Up to 40 British troops are to be deployed to Mali in a training role to help the French-led mission against Islamist militants, Downing Street has confirmed.
The British personnel will be part of an EU force to train Malian soldiers to later take over from French troops who have driven back the rebels from large swathes of the north of the country. It is thought they will also provide logistical expertise.
The UK is also offering to send up to 200 military personnel to help train a West African intervention force in Mali, Downing Street said. The non-combat roles are part of a UN-led mission.
Britain has offered a roll-on roll-off ferry to help transport equipment to the French force in Mali, the Number 10 spokesman added.
Speaking from the historic city of Timbuktu, which has been taken by the French forces, Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford said British soldiers would help "bolster" the Malian forces, which she described as "very depleted".
Local troops had been unable to fight off militants entering Timbuktu last year and simply put down their weapons and fled - leaving the already armed radical jihadists with further weaponry.
Crawford added: "Malians themselves as an army have a reputation for being ill-disciplined, badly motivated and are accused in some towns of carrying out human rights abuses, so there's clearly a lot of training to be done there."
Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy told Sky News that Labour supported the Government's decision to send troops to Mali for training purposes.
But he called for more information on the "rules of engagement" and about how long British forces would be in the North African country.
Mr Murphy added that the public were "wary" about military commitments after the UK's involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He also urged other European countries to assist in the wider Africa training mission.
It was confirmed on Tuesday at an international donors conference for Mali, hosted by the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the EU would allocate 50m euros to support peace operations in Africa.
Prime Minister David Cameron has assured French President Francois Hollande that Britain is "keen" to help Paris with its military mission.
The RAF has already provided two heavy-lift C-17 transport planes and a Sentinel surveillance aircraft to assist France's operation, and national security adviser Sir Kim Darroch was in Paris on Monday to discuss what further help may be offered, while David Cameron has said the UK is ready to offer logistical, intelligence and surveillance help to France, although he has ruled out a combat role for British troops.
In recent days, French forces have pushed deep into the north of the country, entering the towns of Gao and Timbuktu.
President Hollande has said they are "winning this battle" and French soldiers appeared to meet little resistance as they seized Timbuktu from Islamists as part of their offensive against the radicals who have controlled the country's vast desert north for 10 months.
A French Gazelle military helicopter, flying back from the city of Timbuktu, arrives at the French army base camp airport.
The French army drop a jeep with parachutes. French forces are advancing towards Mali's Islamist-held north after taking up positions in the towns of Niono and Sevare.
Malian soldier Ousmane Cisse stands guard on an open road outside Sevare.
Children in Konna wave to media.
A Malian soldier stands by an unexploded shell.
A well in Sevare where the bodies of allegedly Islamist rebels have been found.
French-led troops surrounded Mali's fabled desert city of Timbuktu on Monday after seizing its airport in a lightning advance against Islamist insurgents who have been driven from key northern strongholds.
A crowd cheers the arrival of French soldiers in Timbuktu.
The remains of an armoured vehicle used by al Qaeda-affiliated militants that was hit by French airstrikes.
Children wave after Malian and French soldiers entered Timbuktu, occupied for 10 months by Islamists who imposed a harsh form of sharia.
A child stands next to his house destroyed by a French air strike in Lere.Next
A Malian soldier stands guard near an armoured vehicle in the recently liberated town of Konna.
Up to 40 British troops are to be deployed to Mali in a training role to help the French-led mission against Islamist militants, Downing Street has confirmed.
The British personnel will be part of an EU force to train Malian soldiers to later take over from French troops who have driven back the rebels from large swathes of the north of the country. It is thought they will also provide logistical expertise.
The UK is also offering to send up to 200 military personnel to help train a West African intervention force in Mali, Downing Street said. The non-combat roles are part of a UN-led mission.
Britain has offered a roll-on roll-off ferry to help transport equipment to the French force in Mali, the Number 10 spokesman added.
Speaking from the historic city of Timbuktu, which has been taken by the French forces, Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford said British soldiers would help "bolster" the Malian forces, which she described as "very depleted".
Local troops had been unable to fight off militants entering Timbuktu last year and simply put down their weapons and fled - leaving the already armed radical jihadists with further weaponry.
Crawford added: "Malians themselves as an army have a reputation for being ill-disciplined, badly motivated and are accused in some towns of carrying out human rights abuses, so there's clearly a lot of training to be done there."
Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy told Sky News that Labour supported the Government's decision to send troops to Mali for training purposes.
But he called for more information on the "rules of engagement" and about how long British forces would be in the North African country.
Mr Murphy added that the public were "wary" about military commitments after the UK's involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He also urged other European countries to assist in the wider Africa training mission.
It was confirmed on Tuesday at an international donors conference for Mali, hosted by the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the EU would allocate 50m euros to support peace operations in Africa.
Prime Minister David Cameron has assured French President Francois Hollande that Britain is "keen" to help Paris with its military mission.
The RAF has already provided two heavy-lift C-17 transport planes and a Sentinel surveillance aircraft to assist France's operation, and national security adviser Sir Kim Darroch was in Paris on Monday to discuss what further help may be offered, while David Cameron has said the UK is ready to offer logistical, intelligence and surveillance help to France, although he has ruled out a combat role for British troops.
In recent days, French forces have pushed deep into the north of the country, entering the towns of Gao and Timbuktu.
President Hollande has said they are "winning this battle" and French soldiers appeared to meet little resistance as they seized Timbuktu from Islamists as part of their offensive against the radicals who have controlled the country's vast desert north for 10 months.
A French Gazelle military helicopter, flying back from the city of Timbuktu, arrives at the French army base camp airport.
The French army drop a jeep with parachutes. French forces are advancing towards Mali's Islamist-held north after taking up positions in the towns of Niono and Sevare.
Malian soldier Ousmane Cisse stands guard on an open road outside Sevare.
Children in Konna wave to media.
A Malian soldier stands by an unexploded shell.
A well in Sevare where the bodies of allegedly Islamist rebels have been found.
French-led troops surrounded Mali's fabled desert city of Timbuktu on Monday after seizing its airport in a lightning advance against Islamist insurgents who have been driven from key northern strongholds.
A crowd cheers the arrival of French soldiers in Timbuktu.
The remains of an armoured vehicle used by al Qaeda-affiliated militants that was hit by French airstrikes.
Children wave after Malian and French soldiers entered Timbuktu, occupied for 10 months by Islamists who imposed a harsh form of sharia.
A child stands next to his house destroyed by a French air strike in Lere.Next