French Jets Attack Militant Positions in Mali

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

French military officials say warplanes have attacked Islamist militant positions in northeast Mali, just hours after President Francois Hollande visited the African country.

The French news agency quotes a military official saying 30 jets blasted militant training and logistics centers Sunday in an overnight raid.

On Saturday, Hollande told Malians that terrorism has been repelled and chased out, but not yet conquered.

In an appearance with Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, the French leader said France had a duty to intervene and help Malian forces push Islamist militants from their strongholds in the north.

"City after city, village after village, the Malian and French armies, helped by the West African countries, give Mali its integrity and strength back," Hollande said.

He told a cheering crowd in the capital, Bamako, that French forces were fighting so that Malians in the former French colony could live in peace and have democracy. 

Traore thanked Hollande for France's intervention and warned Malians against seeking vengeance for militant attacks.

Hollande's one-day tour of Mali came three weeks after the start of France's intervention.

The president, accompanied by the defense and finance ministers, visited Sevare and the ancient town of Timbuktu before heading to Bamako.

In Timbuktu, dancers and drummers greeted the French president, while Malians chanted, "Vive La France."  He toured an ancient mosque and a library that had both been targeted by militants.

Hollande told reporters the Malian army had played a key role in liberating towns in the region. 

"All the cities which were freed, were freed by the Malian army, supported by the French army," Hollande said.  "It was always the Malians who entered first.  Kidal, they needed to go to the airport and there were very special circumstances, then there were sand storms, so that has stopped the operation but it will continue, because our will and the one expressed by Mali is that France puts itself at the service of Mali within the framework of the United Nations and it is one of the complete return of territorial integrity in Mali." 

Hollande is pushing for African forces to take over for French troops that have been battling insurgents.

The Tuareg rebel group MNLA has been fighting for a Tuareg homeland.  It seized part of northern Mali last year and later joined forces with Islamic militants when the Malian government collapsed.  The Tuaregs later split with the militants when they imposed conservative Islamic law in the north, and the MNLA now says it backs the French military operation in Mali.

from VOA NEWS
February 03, 2013

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Mali: French Fighter Jets Pound Mali, Top Islamist Leader Reported Killed

French Mirage fighter jets on Sunday pounded Mali for a third day and a top Islamist leader was reported killed as African troops headed to the west African country.

"There were [air strikes] last night, there are now and there will be today and tomorrow," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in televised remarks.

"Our intervention is ongoing and we will continue in order to make them [Islamist fighters] retreat and allow Malian and African forces to go forward and re-establish the territorial integrity of the country," Le Drian said.

The first troops promised by African nations were expected in Mali on Sunday to join the campaign.
Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal on Saturday each pledged 500 troops for an African-led intervention force.

Also on Sunday, a security source said a lieutenant of Ansar Dine, Chief Iyad Ag Ghaly, was killed in fighting to recapture the central town of Konna from the rebels.

"The Islamist fighters suffered a real setback with the death of Abdel 'Kojak' Krim," the source said.
On Saturday French troops arrived in the capital Bamako, flying in from bases in Côte d'Ivoire and Chad, according to a Malian officer. He refused to give details of their numbers or their mission.
Colonel Paul Geze, the French mission's commander, told Mali's ORTM television he hoped their mission would succeed "as quickly as possible, in the best conditions possible".

ORTM said the French contingent would be at full strength by Monday. It has been deployed in the capital to protect the 6,000-strong expatriate community.

Both France and Mali on Saturday hailed the success of their joint operation to push back an advance by the Islamists who control the north of the country.

Since taking power in the north last year, the Islamists have destroyed centuries-old Muslim mausoleums they see as heretical and imposed an extreme form of Islamic law including floggings, amputations and sometimes executions.

"Our foes have suffered heavy losses," French President Francois Hollande said.
A French pilot carrying out air raids had been killed, he added.

Human Rights Watch, citing reports from residents, said at least 10 civilians including three children had died in Konna. Children forced by the Islamists to fight in their ranks had been wounded and possibly killed in the fighting, said HRW's Corinne Dufka.

The Islamists had conscripted the child soldiers in Mali's northeast region of Gao and captured others from neighbouring Niger, she added, calling for their immediate release.
As Western nations praised the French initiative, Britain offered technical support, though no troops on the ground.

Meanwhile French President Hollande said he had ordered tighter security at home following the intervention in Mali, a former French colony.

France "has to take all necessary precautions" in the face of a terrorist threat including increased surveillance of public buildings and transport, he said.

Read or Listen to this story on the RFI website.

from allAfrica/RFI
13 January 2013

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Mali and France 'push back Islamists'

Government forces in Mali say they have regained territory from Islamist militants following air strikes by the French military.

Malian officials said they had taken back the strategic central town of Konna, which rebels had secured just a day earlier as they pushed south.

The news came hours after France announced it had begun military operations in support of Mali's army.

Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of northern Mali in April.

The Islamists have sought to enforce an extreme interpretation of Islamic law in the area.

Regional and western governments have expressed growing concern about the security threat from extremists and organised crime.
'Crushing retaliation'

Announcing France's military intervention, French President Francois Hollande said Islamists had been trying to turn Mali into a "terrorist" state.

He said the intervention complied with international law, and had been agreed with Malian interim President Dioncounda Traore. It would last "as long as necessary", he added.

French officials gave few operational details. When asked whether there had been French air strikes, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that there had been "an aerial operation".

Residents in Mopti, just south of Konna, told the BBC they had seen French troops helping Malian forces prepare for a counter-offensive against the Islamists.

Mr Traore declared a state of emergency across Mali, which he said would remain in place for an initial period of 10 days.

He used a televised address to call on Malians to unite and "free every inch" of the country.

"Our choice is peace... but they have forced war on us," he said. "We will carry out a crushing and massive retaliation against our enemies."

Late on Friday Malian officials said they gained control of Konna.

"Konna is under our control this evening but we are still conducting mopping-up operations," said Lt Col Diarra Kone, though he warned that some rebels might still be in the town.

The British government expressed its support for the French operation. US officials said Washington was considering providing intelligence and logistical support to French forces.
'Crusader intervention'

The west African bloc Ecowas said it was authorising the immediate deployment of troops to Mali "to help the Malian army defend its territorial integrity", AFP reported.

The UN had previously approved plans to send some 3,000 African troops to Mali to recapture the north if no political solution could be found, but that intervention was not expected to happen until September.

Mr Fabius said the aim of the operation was to stop Islamist militants advancing any further.

It was not clear how far the French would go in helping Mali's government retake territory in the north.

At least seven French hostages are currently being held in the region, and Mr Fabius said France would "do everything" to save them.

A spokesman for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said he considered the French operation a "Crusader intervention", and told France it would be "would be digging the tombs of [its] sons" if the operation continued, according to the Mauritania-based Sahara Media website.

France ruled Mali as a colony until 1960.

from BBC
 12 January 2013 Last updated at 01:04 GMT

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Seventh French hostage captured in west Mali

A seventh French citizen has been kidnapped in the Sahel as France backs west African preparations to intervene in the Islamist-controlled north of Mali. President François Hollande on Wednesday said that hostage-taking would not change the country’s foreign policy.

“We must do all we can to find our citizen,” Hollande told a press conference during a visit by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. “I have already alerted anyone who might be in the region to take all necessary precautions.”

The kidnapped man is 61-year-old Gilberto Rodriguez Léal, who was born in Portugal but has acquired French nationality.

He crossed into western Mali from Mauritania in a car on Tuesday morning and was captured near the town of Kayes, according to the Mauritanian press agency Ami.

Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius appealed to French nationals “not to go to that part of Mali, where they put their lives and their safety in danger”.

Six French citizens were already being held hostage in the region, where Islamist militias, including Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and several offshoots, are active.

Earlier this year one group threatened to kill the six if France intervenes militarily in north Mali.
Hollande said on Wednesday that hostage-taking would have no effect on French policy.

 France has said it will not send troops to Mali but will provide training and support to a planned west African force.

from RFI - Read or Listen to this story on the RFI website.

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Hollande Warns AQIM to Free Hostages After Death Threat

French President François Hollande has told Al-Qaida kidnappers in Mali to free six French hostages "before it is too late" after one of their leaders declared that their lives were in because of France's support for a military intervention in the north of the country.

"Free them before it is too late," Hollande told Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) in Kinshasa on Saturday.

The French president stuck to his guns in backing the planned Ecowas/African Union force that is to be sent to reunite Mali, large parts of which are now under the control of Tuareg separatists and armed Islamist groups.

Hollande was responding to Islamist rebel leader Oumar Ould Hamaha, who on Saturday warned that France's backing for Friday's UN Security Council resolution on Mali endangered the hostages and could even lead to an attempt on Hollande's own life.

"The lives of the French hostages are now in danger because of statements by the French president who wants to wage war against us," said Hamaha, claimed membership in the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao). "His own life is now in danger. He needs to know this."
Mujao is linked to Aqim, which is holding 10 Europeans hostage and had already threatened to kill the six French captives if France intervenes in Mali.

He added that Hollande wants to "open the door to hell" for the hostages and hinted that his movement might capture more.

"If we wanted to take French hostages in west Africa or even in France, we could do so easily," he said.

But Hollande pledged to continue the "war on terrorism" at a press conference in Kinshasa, where he was attending the Francophonie summit.

"It's by showing great determination to stick to our policy, which is that of war on terrorism, that we can convince the hostage-takers that it is now time to release our hostages," he said.

Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister Mourad Medelci played down differences with France over Mali after meeting French Interior Minister Manuel Valls in Algiers this weekend.

They had sometimes been "exaggerated", he said, adding that his country supports the UN Security Council resolution.

Algerian ministers reportedly feared being squeezed out of the Mali operation if Ecowas was in charge. They have been accused of involvement with Aqim.
Valls, who was set to meet Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia in the evening, hailed his remarks as "very important".

Read or Listen to this story on the RFI website

from allAfrica/RFI

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France to being troops pull out from Afghanistan in July

France will begin to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in July, French President Francois Hollande said Saturday afternoon. The pullout will be completed by the end of this year, Hollande said after four French soldiers were killed Saturday morning during an operation in eastern Afghanistan.

“This operation will begin in July, it will be put into place and completed by the end of 2012. Until then, everything should be done to make sure that our troops fulfil their obligations, but with the highest level of security and the utmost vigilance for the lives of our soldiers,” he said.

Hollande said France would pay a “national homage” to the men killed in a suicide bombing and that five wounded soldiers would be repatriated rapidly. Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will head to Afghanistan Sunday.

The president promised to get those wounded repatriated quickly, saying that “a plane has already left and will ensure them back as soon as possible.” “I asked Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, accompanied by Chief of Staff of the Army, to go to Afghanistan tomorrow to show the nation’s support to our forces,” Hollande said.

Some 3,500 French soldiers are deployed in Afghanistan, mainly in Kabul and in Kapisa, the fifth largest contingent in NATO’s 130,000-strong US-led force.

Since January’s attack, France has begun accelerating the withdrawal of its troops, and French soldiers have been given instructions to minimise their exposure.

The four killed on Saturday were the first French soldiers to be lost in Afghanistan since January 20, when an Afghan soldier shot dead four unarmed soldiers and wounded 15 others.

from KHAAMA
By Khushnood Nabizada - Sun Jun 10, 12:05 pm

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