French soldiers clashed with armed rebels near Gao in northern Mali on Tuesday after the coalition forces of French and Malian troops had recaptured the major towns in their battle against the al-Qaida backed Islamist groups in the west African country, military sources and locals said.

France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed the clashes in Paris on Wednesday and said it was an indication that "a real war" occurred in Mali.

"Yesterday there was a confrontation with some Islamists near Gao at a time when our soldiers who were being supported by the Malian forces were patrolling the towns that we have captured," the French defense minister said.

The town of Gao was recaptured by the French forces who were supported by the Malian and other African troops.

He said a residual group of the rebels fired rocket-launchers in Gao region. "Therefore there's a real war. It's a war which today has enabled us to identify the hide-outs of the Islamists and we shall pursue them," Le Drian added.

After several months of diplomatic negotiation, France decided on Jan. 11 to intervene in Mali after the rebel groups captured the town of Konna in the Central region and were heading towards the capital, Bamako.

France has deployed 4,000 soldiers to Mali. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) members as well as some other African nations have pledged to dispatch anonther 4,000 to support the Malian government to regain ruling to the northern region that was under the rebels' control.

But the French defense minister said Wednesday that the French troops have reached the maximum. "We have 4,000 soldiers and we shall not go beyond that. But we shall start reducing them so that the African troops can take over," the minister said when he spoke on Europe 1 station.

"With 4,000 French and 4,000 African troops, we shall progressively start to hand over to African soldiers very soon," he added.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in an interview with Le Metro daily newspaper that the French soldiers may start withdrawing from Mali as early as March.

"I think that as early as from March, if everything goes according to plan, there will be a reduction of the number of French troops," he affirmed.

However, Le Drian clarified in his radio interview that "the French soldiers will continue remaining in Mali until the country regains its territorial integrity and sovereignty (...) and until the moment when the Malian and African forces will be in a position to fully take over the operation against the Islamists." Enditem

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