The French Air Force adds muscle to its mission in Mali.<br/> <br />French fighter jets are pounding an Islamist rebel stronghold deep in northern Mali.<br/> <br />France is determined to end Islamist domination of north, which many fear could serve a base for attacks on the West<br/> <br />In Bamako people are doing what they can to help out.<br/> <br />They are donating their blood.<br/> <br />Officials say they have already collected more than 1,000 pouches of blood.<br/> <br />On the streets some say they are grateful to France.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE)(Bambara) IBRAHIM SIDIBE, COFFE SHOP CLIENT, SAYING:<br/> <br />"We have an army, but they don't have the force to fight the Islamists. I don't know what we would have done if the French didn't come."<br/> <br />Senior military officials from Mali visit troops who are fighting rebels alongside French forces.<br/> <br />For more than two decades peaceful elections earned Mali a reputation as a bulwark of democracy on the Continent. That image unraveled in a matter of weeks after a military coup in March -- which left a power vacuum for the Islamist rebellion and an uncertain future for the country.
