France says Mali troops to be cut to 1000 France will start withdrawing troops from Mali in April, president Francois Hollande announced. THE 4000 French soldiers deployed in Mali to fight Islamist rebels will be reduced to 1000 by the end of the year, French President Francois Hollande says. "We will start withdrawing at the end of April," he said in an interview with France 2 television on Thursday. In July, there will be no more than 2000 soldiers in Mali. At the end of the year, there will only be 1000 troops. France - which is leading a military intervention to secure northern Mali from Al-Qaeda-linked rebels - is eager to withdraw and hand over to an African force known as AFISMA that would be transformed into a UN peacekeeping mission. It has called for the 15-member UN security council to pass a resolution in April setting up the peacekeeping force, which could be in place by July. AFISMA currently counts around 6300 soldiers from west African countries and Chad. Hollande also said France wanted elections in Mali by July, adding that Paris was inflexible on this.