Troops, Islamists clash in Mali

Chad suffered the heaviest losses so far in the French-led campaign to drive Islamists from northern Mali after a battle in which it said 13 Chadian soldiers and 65 Islamist rebels were killed.
News of the battle came after two suicide car bombers targeted ethnic Tuareg forces in the northern town of Tessalit, killing three people.
A US official meanwhile confirmed that Washington had deployed several Predator drones to Niger to fly surveillance missions in support of French forces in Mali.
The clash between Chadian forces and the Islamists took place Friday in the mountainous Ifoghas region of northern Mali, Chad's military command announced.
Earlier this month Chad deployed 1,800 soldiers in the northern city of Kidal to secure what had been the rebels' last urban stronghold, putting itself in the frontline in the fight against the Islamists.
A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, meanwhile confirmed that drones were now flying out of Niamey, Niger, from a base with a 100-strong contingent of air force personnel.