Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told reporters the Baltic state plans to send a Spartan transport aircraft with pilots and a logistics team in line with France's request for logistical support.

He said the aircraft would be deployed in Niger and would carry out tasks in Mali.

"This would make a very significant contribution to the success of the special operations" in Mali, Anusauskas said.

The minister spoke after a meeting of the Lithuanian state defence council, whose Takuba mandate still needs to be approved by parliament.

Around 10 other countries including the Czech Republic, Estonia and Sweden have provided soldiers to the taskforce, which aims to play a central role in the fight against jihadists in the Sahel region after the French military scales down its presence.

Military forces have for nearly a decade been battling jihadist insurgents in the Sahel, an arid and volatile region that stretches across Africa south of the Sahara desert and spans half a dozen countries.