Malian soldiers are stationed at the entrance of of Gao, Northern Mali, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. French and Malian troops held a strategic bridge and the airport in the northern town of Gao on Sunday as their force also pressed toward Timbuktu, another stronghold of Islamic extremists in northern Mali, officials said. The sign , a reminder of Islamic extremists, reads " Al Hesbah, together for the pleasure of God almighty and the struggle against sins."(AP Photo/Jerome Delay), APTOPIX