French newspapers reported Thursday that the military intervention has already cost France 70 million euros ($95 million) with the figure rising by 2.7 million euros per day.
On Tuesday, Le Drian said the French-led operation had so far killed “several hundred” Al Qaeda-linked militants.
“This is a real war with significant losses but I’m not going to get into an accounting exercise,” he said Wednesday when asked about the toll.
France’s sole fatality so far has been a helicopter pilot killed at the start of the operation. Mali said 11 of its troops were killed and 60 wounded in early fighting but has not since released a new death toll.
The UN said Wednesday it had regained access for aid operations in central Mali, and hoped to soon be able to move into the north, where landmines and lingering rebels still pose a security threat.
“We could have access over coming days,” said David Gressly, who steers UN humanitarian operations in the region.
Some 500,000 people are facing hunger in the north, he said.
French President Francois Hollande, who has vowed to stay in Mali as long as it takes, said a drawdown of troops would begin in March “if everything goes to plan”, a spokeswoman said.
France now has as many troops in Mali as it had at the peak of its deployment in Afghanistan in 2010.
French fighter jets continue to pound the area around the Adrar des Ifoghas massif in the far northeast, a craggy mountain landscape honeycombed with caves where the insurgents are believed to have fled with seven French hostages.
Mali has effusively welcomed the reclaiming of its northern territory, but the national mood took a downward turn when the national football team lost the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations Wednesday.
“A semi-final victory could have distracted us a little bit from this war,” said an agitated Diakari Dia, 21, in the capital.
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