We start off this week's Africa news roundup in Mali where France's air force launched fresh strikes in northern Mali, targeting the city of Gao which had been controlled by the al-Qaeda offshoot MUJAO, destroying rebel bases and forcing the fighters to flee, Aljazeera reports.

The attack on Gao on Sunday, the largest city in the desert region controlled by fighters, marked a decisive drive northwards on the third day of French air strikes, moving deep into the vast territory seized by rebels in April.

"There were dozens of strikes in and around Gao. All Islamist bases have been destroyed," a resident told AFP by phone.

Speaking to French media, French Foreign Minister Mr Fabius rejected any parallel with the protracted Western mission in Afghanistan.

"Later on, we can come as back-up, but we have no intention of staying forever," he said.

Mr Fabius said that had France not intervened, there was a risk that the Islamists could have advanced as far as the capital, Bamako, with "appalling consequences".

Islamist groups and secular Tuareg reb els took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize northern Mali in April 2012.

But the Islamists soon took control of the region's major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.

One Islamist group, Ansar Dine, began pushing further south last week, seizing the strategically important town of Konna.

The town has since been recaptured by Malian troops with French aerial support.

In Kenya, the Tana Delta conflict has been linked to a scramble for fertile soils by multi-nationals besides animosity between local communities the Daily Nation reports.

Local leaders and residents now blame the sporadic violence on external forces out to drive the communities out of the area and take their land.

On Saturday, some leaders from Orma, Wardei and Pokomo communities alleged that the violence was not a fight between farmers and pastoralists.

In the past, concerns have been raised over plans by the government to lease 40,000 hectares to Qatar to grow fruits and vegetables so that the Gulf State funds the Lamu port project.