"Today at 2:06 pm, soldiers from the Bundeswehr mission landed in Bamako, Mali," the military tweeted.

"That meets the requirements to replace the first personnel members from (UN peacekeeping mission) MINUSMA affected by the halt in rotations."

The German defence ministry said last week it had suspended its reconnaissance and related operations in Mali after the local military-led government denied flyover rights to the UN mission.

The German move came as Mali's junta turned away from France and toward Russia in its fight against jihadism.

A spokesman from the German command told AFP that Thursday's flight was not identical to the troop movement planned last week, which would have involved "reinforcements to resume reconnaissance operations".

Rather, the latest flight involved a routine "rotation".

The long-running insurgency in Mali has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

The relationship between Bamako and Paris, its former colonial power and traditional ally, has deteriorated in recent months.

The German government said on Wednesday that Bundeswehr soldiers in Mali had spotted several dozen suspected Russian security forces in the city of Gao just as the last French soldiers left the country.