After the publication of a UN report that implicates France in a military blunder that killed several civilians in Mali, the French government has decided to increase aid to Mali to 6 million euros this year.

France's deputy ambassador to the UN, Nathalie Estival-Broadhurst said Paris would provide an additional €1 million this year to a UN fund focused on the Sahel, where French and foreign forces are fighting an insurgency.

The injection of humanitarian funds comes a week after the publication of a UN report criticizing France for an airstrike on January 3 that killed 19 civilians and three gunmen at a wedding in the remote desert from central Mali.

Investigators from the UN mission in Mali (Minusma) concluded last week that the French airstrike had struck a rally of around 100 people in the village of Bounti.

UN investigators said five armed individuals, suspected to be members of Katiba Serma, a group linked to Al Qaeda, were present at the celebration.

France however rejected the findings and questioned the credibility of the report.