BAMAKO: Malian troops backed by French gunships killed around 100 Islamist fighters in the battle to recapture the key town of Kona, a senior officer said on Saturday.

“We have claimed dozens of casualties, even around 100 among Islamist ranks in Konna,” said Lt. Ousmane Fane, from the regional command, told Agence France Presse (AFP).

France admitted losing a pilot when his helicopter was hit by gunfire during an air strike near the central town of Mopti in support of Mali ground troops trying to stem a push south by rebels who control much of the north.

“In this intense fighting, sadly, one of our pilots ... was fatally injured. He was evacuated to the nearest medical center before dying of his wounds,” French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a news conference.

He said France had sent special forces into Mopti to prepare the ground and later sent “several hundred” troops into Bamako on Friday to safeguard the capital.

French forces carried out a second day of air strikes against the rebels in Mali on Saturday and sent troops to protect the capital Bamako in an operation involving several hundred soldiers, Le Drian said.

France had additional Rafale fighter jets on standby to be deployed, Le Drian said. President Francois Hollande was due to hold a meeting with defense officials at 3 p.m. (1400GMT).

Le Drian said a raid by French forces in Somalia to try to rescue a French secret agent held hostage there since 2009 was not linked to the Mali intervention. The hostage, Denis Allex, is believed to have died in the raid, along with one soldier, he said. A second soldier was missing.

Niger, meanwhile, said said it will send 500 soldiers to join an international military campaign in Mali led by West African regional bloc ECOWAS to quash advances by Islamist rebels.

“We are sending a battalion of around 500 individuals under the ECOWAS plan,” Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum told Reuters on Saturday.