Why is France bombing Mali?

Haven't done much reading in to it and was just wondering why they're doing it.

Thanks!
Operation Serval was a French military operation in Mali that aimed to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali. [1] The militants had begun a push into the center of Mali, and the French operation was in response to an official request for military assistance by the Malian interim government. [1] The intervention in Mali provided President Hollande with an opportunity to restore France's international reputation, which had suffered due to the Toureg rebellion in March 2013. [2] Moreover, Mali is a strategic state because it is partly because of what had happened there in March 2013 with the Toureg rebellion, and partly because of the implication of a weak state there for Niger next door and for French access to the uranium mines that provide France with electricity. [2] There has also been a significant spread of terrorist activity across a vast stretch of land south of the Sahara, known as the Sahel, and France's counterterrorism fight has spread with it. [3] As a result, more than 10,000 West Africans have died, over a million have fled their homes, and military forces from West Africa and France have suffered many losses. [3]
The main reason that France is bombing Mali is because of the terrorist threat that is in the region [1]. Mali, which was a colony of France, invited France to come in and help fight the Islamic jihadists that were trying to establish Sharia law in the country [1]. Initially, the French concentrated their airstrikes on the north of Mali in order to prevent the terrorists from gaining a strong foothold there [2]. Eventually, French forces pulled out of Mali completely in July 2014 [3]. Now, the French have a new operation, called Operation Barkhane, aimed at fighting Islamist fighters in the Sahel region [3].