Operation Serval it had lost a few days earlier. French airstrikes appeared to stop the rebel advance to the south which prompted the intervention and destroyed an Ansar Dine command post near Konna. France asked the U.S. to speed up its contribution by sending drones to improve surveillance over the vast area of northern Mali. The Pentagon was reported to have studied the French request. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announced that his country would lend logistical support to the operation. ECOWAS troops preparing to deploy to Mali also decided to move up their arrival date to January 14
Timeline of the 2011 Libyan Civil War and military intervention (June–15 August) force. The NTC gained critical international recognition from the United States and other states during this period and began to open embassies and diplomatic offices in foreign capitals. But the opposition council was dealt a jarring setback by the murder of top military commander General Abdul Fatah Younis under mysterious circumstances in late July. Despite the muddled situation in the east, by mid-August, anti-Gaddafi units based in the Nafusa Mountains were mounting a bold offensive north toward the Mediterranean Basin. Timeline of the 2011 Libyan Civil War and military intervention (June–15 August) The Libyan Civil War began on 17 February