The French president announced Friday evening that French ground and air forces were in Mali to aid government forces, in response to a plea for help.
He also revealed that a French helicopter pilot, Lieutenant Damien Boiteux, was killed in Friday's fighting - during an air raid to support Mali's ground troops in the battle for Konna.
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The news release said they chose to carry out the operation in Algeria because the country's president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, had allowed French military forces to cross Algerian air space in attacking Mali.
It has already deployed 2, 500 soldiers on the ground in Mali as well as launching air strikes.
France says its air strikes have forced back Islamists who took control of northern Mali last year, though the rebels seized one town on Monday.
The Malian military, he said, now has the objective of retaking all northern Mali, adding: "If the (air) support is significant, it won't take more than a month for Gao and Timbuktu" to return to government control.
France, the former colonial power in Mali, has committed about 1, 700 troops and air crews to the fight, Le Drian said.
So far, the U.S. Air Force has flown at least seven C-17 cargo missions into Mali, carrying 200 passengers, mainly French troops, and 168 tons of equipment, according to Maj.
The U.S. Air Force is keeping between eight and 10 people at the airport in Mali's capital to help with the incoming and outgoing flights, the Pentagon said late Tuesday.
Several Nato members, including the US and France, say they will help to train an African force for the Mali operation, but have not offered to send ground troops or launch air strikes.
The BBC's Mark Doyle in Mali says a big international troop build-up is continuing ahead of a probable French-led air and ground offensive on Gao and other desert cities.
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