Northeast Mali Secured by End-March, Says France's Le Drian

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday he expected more heavy fighting for French forces in northeastern Mali but that the area should be secured by the end of March.

"We are liberating this territory meter by meter. There will surely be more heavy fighting," he told Le Monde newspaper in an interview. "Within three weeks, if all goes as planned, this area will be completely inspected."

By then, he said, "overall security will have been restored in this space."

French and Chadian forces are hunting Islamists rebels in the region following a French-led intervention that drove the militants from cities in northern Mali they had seized last year.

Echoing previous government statements, Le Drian also said it was "likely" that Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) commander Adelhamid Abou Zeid had been killed in the fighting but that his death "remains to be confirmed".