BAMAKO, Mali — Police say that Malians demonstrated for an international military intervention to regain control of the country's north, which is currently controlled by Islamist extremist rebels.

An estimated 2,000 protestors marched through Bamako to urge the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution for a military campaign to push out the Islamist groups that control northern Mali's vast desert area.

The demonstration was organized by supporters of Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, who first suggested the idea last week on national television.

The national police said the protesters marched peacefully in central Bamako. The U.N. plan calls for the Malian army to be supported by troops from the African Union and logistical support from France and the United States

"We want to liberate the North," shouted Mamadou Coulibaly.