France has urged its citizens to leave Mali "as soon as possible", after a weekend of co-ordinated attacks by separatist fighters and Islamist militants.

In an update on Wednesday, the advice also warned French citizens not to travel to the West African nation, describing the situation as "extremely volatile", News.Az reports, citing BBC.

Explosions and sustained gunfire were reported across the country, including the capital, Bamako on Saturday. In Kati, the defence leader Sadio Camara was killed in an apparent suicide bombing by militants, while in the north, separatist forces have taken control of the city of Kidal.

Mali's military leader Gen Assimi Goïta said the security situation in the country was under control.

Speaking in public for the first time on Tuesday evening, he said the army had dealt a "violent blow" to the attackers, and signalled operations were still ongoing.

The spokesperson for one of the rebel groups, the ethnic Tuareg separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on Wednesday vowed "the regime will fall, sooner or later".

Speaking to AFP news agency during a visit to Paris, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said the rebels intended to take control of several other northern towns - Gao, Timbuktu and Menaka - following their success in Kidal.

He also called for Russian forces, who have been helping the military government against the rebel groups, to withdraw from "all of Mali" after they agreed to pull out of Kidal on Monday.

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova