French troops and their Malian counterparts encounter little resistance in advance on Gao, the largest town in northern MaliFrench troops have taken an airport and bridge on the outskirts of the largest town in northern Mali as they and the Malian army continued to push back Islamist militants.A spokesman said the troops had not faced serious resistance near Gao but were subject to sporadic acts of "harassment" by fighters who had infiltrated the local population.The Islamists, who call themselves the Movement for Oneness and Jihad, seized control of Gao and two other northern provinicial ... Read More