French Troops Move Against Islamist Base in Mali

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

French troops in northern Mali have launched a new operation against a suspected Islamist militant base near the city of Gao.

A reporter for VOA said Monday that a force of about 1,000 soldiers, backed by tanks, helicopters and drones, is moving against the base in the small town of Bourem.

Al-Qaida-linked militants fled to remote areas after French and Malian government troops drove them out of northern Mali's main cities and towns in a January offensive.

Meanwhile, the president of Niger says the battle against Islamist militants in neighboring Mali is "almost over."

In an interview with VOA, President Mahamadou Issoufou says northern Mali is free and "many terrorists have been eliminated," following the French-led offensive.

He predicts armed militants and drug traffickers will still organize attacks but says "significant results have been achieved."

France has indicated it will begin withdrawing its troops from Mali by the end of this month. 

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for the deployment of two replacement forces in Mali - one to help stabilize the country and one to continue fighting al-Qaida.

In the interview, Niger's president voiced support for the presence of U.S. troops and drones in Niger.  Issoufou says the forces are needed to fight regional terrorism, and says that without the drones, "we are blind."

President Obama has said about 100 U.S. military personnel are in Niger for the purpose of intelligence collection.

from VOA News
April 08, 2013

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Mali Troops, Islamists Clash in Timbuktu

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

At least one Malian soldier was killed and several others were wounded Sunday during fighting between Malian soldiers backed by French forces  and Islamist militants in the northern city of Timbuktu.

Officials say at least five insurgents were also killed in the shootout that started Saturday night after a group of Islamist militants infiltrated the Saharan city.

The militants linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, used a suicide bomber as distraction and entered the city while he blew himself up at a military checkpoint.  The militants are trying to recapture the city they held for months until Malian and french troops recaptured it in January.

It is not clear how many rebels have re-entered Timbuktu.

City residents told VOA that the fighting is not far from their homes, and that some civilians have been wounded by stray bullets.  They say they are staying indoors as the clashes continue.

The attack Saturday began hours after a Malian military vehicle drove over a land mine, killing two soldiers.

Mali has been the target of a series of attacks claimed by Islamist insurgents since France launched a military intervention against al-Qaida-linked groups that had seized northern Mali.  France began its operation in Mali in January.

Meanwhile, a contingent of Senegalese troops has arrived in the northern city of Gao to boost a regional intervention force trying to oust the Islamist rebels from there.

French President Francois Hollande has said France plans to begin pulling its troops out of northern Mali in April.  A multi-nation African force being assembled to replace the French needs more training and equipment to protect vulnerable northern Malian towns.

from VOA News
March 31, 2013

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French forces kill two Indians in Bangui airport

In these photos taken on Friday March 22, 2013 and provided on Monday March 25, 2013 by the French Army Communications Audio visual office, French soldiers arrive at Bangui airport, Central Africa Republic. Rebels overthrew Central African Republic's president of a decade on Sunday, seizing the presidential palace and declaring that the desperately poor country has "opened a new page in its history." The country's president fled the capital, while extra French troops moved to secure the airport, officials said. (AP Photo/Elise Foucaud, ECPAD)

PARIS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- French defence ministry confirmed that French forces fired on vehicles trying to enter the Bangui airport in Central African Republic, killing two Indian nationals.

The accident occurred "in a particularly confusing situation", as French troops based in the Bangui airport had been fired upon "from an unknown source," the ministry said in a statement.

"These vehicles were transporting Chadian and Indian nationals. Despite warning shots fired by troops guarding the site, the vehicles kept going at high speed," the ministry said in a statement.

"Two Indian nationals died. French forces immediately took charge of the injured Indian and the Chadian, who were driven to an aid facility," the ministry said.

It is reported that five other Indians and four Chadians got wounded in this accident.

Expressing deeply regret for the accident, the French defence ministry has decided to conduct an investigation to determine the exact circumstances.

France has sent 350 soldiers to the Central African Republic over the weekend to reinforce its protection of French citizens in the conflict-ridden country where the capital Bangui was seized by rebels who ousted the president on Sunday.

from XINHUA
2013-03-26 07:43:43

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Mali: Al Qaeda in Africa Says It Beheads French Hostage

Nouakchott — Al Qaeda's wing in north Africa said it had beheaded a French hostage in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, Mauritania's ANI news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a spokesman for the group.

In what ANI reported was a telephone call to the agency, which has close links to Islamist militants, the commander said Philippe Verdon had been beheaded on March 10 "in response to the French military intervention in the north of Mali," ANI reported.

The death, if proved true, would be a worrying development for Paris, which still has some 14 hostages held in West Africa, including seven in the Sahel by AQIM and its affiliates.

Verdon, a French geologist, was captured in the northern Mali town of Hombori in November 2011. A French foreign ministry spokesman said he had no information on the report.

The AQIM spokesman, who identified himself only as Qayrawani, described Verdon as a French spy, adding that Hollande "bore the responsibility for the remaining hostages."

from allAfrica/Tunis Afrique Presse (Tunis)
20 March 2013

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French, Mali Troops in Gao Push Out Islamist Rebels

Malian soldiers fire a machine gun in Gao, February 21, 2013.

France's defense minister says that Malian and French troops have pushed out Islamist rebels who temporarily seized the town hall and mayor's residence in the city of Gao in northern Mali.

Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters Thursday in Brussels that five Islamists were killed in the fighting and that the situation is back to normal.

New clashes between the militants and government troops supported by French forces erupted Wednesday in Gao, which was liberated last month after an occupation by Islamist insurgents.  Reports say that the Islamists had returned to Gao overnight and took control of some government buildings.

A correspondent told VOA that heavily armed Islamist militants took up positions in the mayor's office.  He said the office was set on fire during fighting that ensued, along with the courthouse and part of a nearby market.

Malian officials and militants say the militants are part of the Islamist group known as MUJAO, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa. 

A Malian Defense Ministry spokesman told VOA that while Gao was liberated last month, "pockets of insecurity" remained in the city.

In another incident, a car bomb exploded near a military base in the northern city of Kidal, killing the bomber and one civilian.  The base was being used by French and Chadian forces.

In January, French troops entered Mali, a former French colony, at the request of the Bamako government to help drive back Islamist militants who had seized northern cities and were moving toward the capital.

After a series of swift military advances in Mali, France said its forces were planning to hand over military operations to the Malian army and an African force.  French officials have also urged the United Nations to establish a peacekeeping mission in Mali.

from VOA News
February 21, 2013

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Men Wearing Explosives Arrested in Mali

Malian soldiers stand by a motorcycle used by a suicide bomber at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali, Feb. 8, 2013.

Malian officials say two men who were allegedly wearing explosives were arrested near Gao on Saturday, a day after a suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint near the northern city.

A Malian military spokesman and witnesses say the two men were detained on a road that leads into Gao.

Malian troops bolstered security after Friday's attack. A local journalist said the bombing occurred less than 10 meters from the military checkpoint.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) claimed responsibility for the Friday blast and vowed to carry out more attacks against Malian soldiers who sided with what it called "enemies of Islam."

MUJAO is one of several military groups that had strongholds in northern Mali before French forces intervened in January.

Radio France Internationale said Saturday that Malian authorities had issued arrest warrants for the leaders of MUJAO as well as Ansar Dine and the Tuareg separatist group MNLA. All three militant groups have been linked to unrest in the country's north.

Friday's violence overshadowed the arrival of 70 European Union military trainers. They were the first of 500 military instructors who are being deployed to help strengthen the Malian army.

The Mali crisis began in early 2012 when the Tuareg separatist group MNLA launched a rebellion in the north. The MNLA and Islamist militants seized control of the north after the March coup in Bamako, but the MNLA was soon swept aside as the militants imposed harsh Islamic law on the region.

At the request of Mali's government, France entered its former colony last month to drive back the al-Qaida-linked militants who had begun moving in the direction of the capital, Bamako.

France wants to begin handing over its four-week-old military operation to the Malian army and African forces.  But officials say any transfer will have to wait until Mali's security situation stabilizes.

France has proposed the United Nations establish a peacekeeping mission in Mali.  Diplomats have said privately that a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the mission is not likely before the end of February.  It could take another two months after that to transition the African forces into U.N. peacekeepers.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

from VOA News
February 09, 2013

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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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French-Backed Malian Forces Retake Gao, Advance on Timbuktu

Malian soldiers ride in a Malian army pickup truck in Diabaly January 26, 2013. (photo by Joe Penney)

French and Malian forces are advancing against Islamist militants in northern Mali heading toward Timbuktu after more than two weeks of fighting.  

Overnight, French air strikes destroyed the home of an al Qaida linked militant leader in the town of Kidal some 1,500 from the capital, Bamako.

The assault came  a day after French and Malian forces recaptured the strategic city of Gao.

The French Defense Ministry said Saturday that a contingent of troops from Nigeria and Chad was moving into the city to help maintain stability. The ministry also said the city's mayor, who had sought refuge in the capital, Bamako, was returning.

VOA correspondent Idrissa Fall in Mali says the military intervention in Gao is significant because the city had become a haven for rebel groups.

"Gao is the most important city in northern Mali. Gao was a kind of capital for the Movement for the Unity of God and Jihad in West Africa and also a capital for Ansar Dine. It was the former capital of the MNLA, those rebel Tuaregs who proclaimed independence."

Earlier Saturday, French and Malian forces regained control of Gao's airport and a nearby bridge. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the forces used an air and ground operation to cut off the logistic and transportation capabilities of the militants.

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

The U.S. Defense Department announced late Saturday it is expanding its aid to the French mission in Mali.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Le Drian in a phone conversation that the Pentagon is prepared to conduct aerial refueling missions.  The two defense officials also discussed plans for the U.S. to transport troops from other African nations into Mali.  The U.S. has not planned to send its own troops to Mali.

The conflict in Mali and how to end it is the main topic of discussion at the African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday. The AU has asked leaders of the 54-member bloc of nations to consider committing troops to the mission in Mali.

France began a military offensive in Mali earlier this month, after rebels who seized control of much of the country's north last year began pushing toward the capital, Bamako. The rebels have been imposing a strict form of Islamic law on civilians.

As military operations continue in Mali, defense chiefs from the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS were holding an emergency meeting in the Ivory Coast to discuss Mali's unrest. ECOWAS has been discussing plans to send roughly 3,000 troops to Mali as part of a U.N.-backed mission. 

from VOA News

January 27, 2013

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France says hostage killed during rescue bid in Somalia

Denis Allex was filmed by his captors(BBC.co.uk/SITE intelligence photo)

(Reuters) - A French intelligence officer held hostage in Somalia since 2009 was killed along with at least one other soldier during a botched rescue attempt by French troops on Friday night, the French Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

But the Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen insurgent group who were holding Denis Allex said in a statement that he was still alive and being held at a location far from the base where French military helicopters attacked overnight.

The al Qaeda-linked insurgents also said they were holding an injured French soldier.

Both sides described a fierce firefight during the raid on the Horn of Africa country that French said was carried out by the DGSE intelligence agency that Allex worked for.

The French Defence Ministry said 17 Somali fighters were killed in the fighting, which came on the same day France carried out air strikes against al Qaeda linked rebels in Mali in west Africa.

"Faced with the intransigence of the terrorists, who refused to negotiate for three and half years and who were holding Denis Allex in inhumane conditions, an operation was planned and carried out," the ministry said.

"During the assault, violent combat took place. Denis Allex was killed by his captors and in trying to liberate their comrade, two soldiers lost their lives."

The government later told a news conference one soldier was killed and one was missing.

Allex was one of two French intelligence officers from the DGSE who were kidnapped by al Shabaab in Mogadishu in July 2009 but one, Marc Aubriere, escaped a month later. Allex had been held ever since.

Authorities in Bula Mareer, a town about 120 km (75 miles) south of Mogadishu, said helicopters attacked on early on Saturday.

"Helicopters attacked al Shabaab at 2.00 a.m. this morning. Two civilians died in the crossfire," Ahmed Omar Mohamed, deputy chairman for lower Shabelle region, told Reuters.

An al Shabaab official who asked not to be named said they exchanged fire with French commandos.

"Three helicopters dropped French commandos. We exchanged fire," the official told Reuters.

The ministry said on Saturday Allex was kidnapped when he was carrying out an official aid mission with the Somalian government. France has previously said the two men were in the Somali capital to train local forces.

After his abduction al Shabaab issued a series of demands, which included an end to French support for the Somali government and the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers, whose 17,600-strong troops are helping battle the rebels.

A video of Allex pleading with French President Francois Hollande to negotiate his release and save his life appeared on a website in October used by Islamist militant groups around the world. Reuters could not verify its authenticity.

Hollande said at the time the government was seeking to start talks with any party able to facilitate Allex's release.

from REUTERS
By John Irish and Abdi Sheikh
PARIS/MOGADISHU | Sat Jan 12, 2013 11:12am GMT
(Additional reporting by Feisal Omar and Leila Abboud; Editing by George Obulutsa and Alison Williams)

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