French President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday a military campaign against Islamist rebels in Mali has killed “terrorist leaders”, without clarifying whether he was referring to two al Qaeda commanders reported dead last week.

He added the roughly 4,000 French troops in the West African state as part of the eight-week-old operation would begin withdrawing in April – a month later than planned – as a U.N.-backed African coalition force replaces them.

“We have launched an offensive in two directions, the first in the Ifoghas mountain range, and there we have had successes that will be further confirmed in the coming days, including the killing of terrorist leaders,” Hollande told a news conference in Warsaw where he was attending a regional leaders event. . .