France has started withdrawing its troops from Mali after an operation to help local forces push back an offensive by Islamist rebels, an army spokesman said on Tuesday, April 9, according to Reuters.

Paris aims to complete the withdrawal of 3,000 soldiers this year and will keep a permanent 1,000-strong combat force in the former colony to support a UN peacekeeping mission of African forces.

Despite concerns over persistent Islamist attacks in the north and the lack of security in many areas, France is pressing Mali's interim government to organize national elections to complete a democratic transition after a March 2012 coup.

"It's the start of the pullout," Thierry Burkhard said. "The aim is to be down to 2,000 in July."

Burkhard said that about 100 men from a parachute regiment that had been based in Tessalit, in the foothills of the Adrar des Ifoghas mountain range, had now left Mali.

On Monday, France launched a major operation north of Gao, a city about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the capital Bamako, highlighting French efforts to establish military control across the country before UN peacekeepers arrive.