Casualties reported in northern Mali suicide attacks

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

BAMAKO, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Suicide bomb attacks caused casualties in northern Mali on Thursday and Friday, the latest in a series launched by rebels this month apparently in a counter- offensive to the Malian army and its allies, according to local sources.

The Malian military reported twin car bomb attacks near the northern town of Tessalit, killing at least five people including civilians and the suicide bombers.

The raid came one day after a suicide car bombing in another northern town of Kidal, killing a guard and the driver.

The suicide attacks were reported amid tensions in Gao, the biggest town in northern Mali, where five rebels were killed in battles with Malian and French troops on Thursday over its control.

The Malian military said the rebels, who lost control of the town last month after occupying it for nine months, managed to enter the city on Wednesday.

The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) targeted the mayor's office, before repelled by the army.

Gao had previously witnessed two suicide attacks by rebels.

from XINHUA
2013-02-22 18:40:14
Editor: Wang Yuanyuan

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Malian military on high alert after suicide attack

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

BAMAKO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Malian military were on high alert and reinforced security in the northern largest city of Gao on Saturday, a day after an Islamist suicide bomber targeted a checkpoint on the city's outskirts in the country's first suicide attack.

The Malian troops in Gao were fortifying checkpoints with sandbags and heavy machine guns and patrolling the city in heavy rotation, as the Friday suicide blast raised new concerns about the insurgence in the West African country.

On Friday, a young Tuareg man riding a motorcycle detonated an explosive belt at the checkpoint, killing only himself and wounding a soldier, according to reports.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) claimed responsibility for the attack against the Malian soldiers "who chose the side of the miscreants, the enemies of Islam," the reports said.

The MUJAO as well as other rebel groups took advantage of a military coup in the distant capital Bamako on March 22, 2012 to sweep through northern Mali.

Fears of suicide bombing attacks have been high since the discovery of industrial-strength explosives in Gao earlier this week.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that the armed groups and terrorist elements in Mali that fled amid French troops' offensive might come back and stage reprisal attacks, although the French operations there so far have been effective and successful.

France intervened in its former colony on Jan. 11, after the Islamic militants began pushing south, raising alarm that they were inching closer toward the capital.

Moreover, a gunfight in Bamako between rival factions of the Malian army on Friday exposed the weakness and division of Mali's military.

Government troops exchanged fire with paratroopers loyal to former President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was ousted in the March 2012 coup, as they fired into the air to protest an order deploying them elsewhere.

Two people were killed and 13 others injured in the confrontation at the 33rd camp of the Djicoroni paratroopers brigade, who are commonly known as the red berets, the government said in a statement.

The government "deplored the death of two adolescents and the injuring of 13 other people" during an attack against the paratroopers' camp by green berets and the police who wanted to push the red berets out of the camp, it said.

Interim President Dioncounda Traore condemned the clashes, calling for a "definitive end" to the internecine fighting.

"I am deeply saddened by the clashes within the Malian army," Traore said on state-run television.

The arrival of the first European Union (EU) contingent, comprising 70 military instructors, came as a boost to the Malian army.

Its head, Colonel Bruno Heluin, told the press in Bamako that the mission will assist in "reforming Mali's army so that it is able to safeguard the country's national territory and respond rapidly when called upon."

The EU decided to dispatch hundreds of trainers to reinforce the capacity of the Malian army, following a request for support by the country's senior military officials, who wanted their soldiers to be well trained and equipped to fight rebel groups in northern Mali.

Mali has been unstable since Toure was ousted on March 22, 2012.

In December 2012, then Prime Minister of the transitional government Cheick Modibo Diarra announced resignation and dissolved the cabinet after being arrested by troops supportive of ex-coup leader Amadou Sanogo.

Northern rebels continued its southward push in January 2013, briefly taking the key town of Konna in central Mali and threatening the Bamako-based government of transition, which is recognized by the international community.

The Malian army launched counter-offensives with the backing of other African countries and France, the former colonial ruler of Mali.

The rebels have retreated in disarray since the French military intervention, with the Malian government taking back the northern towns of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.

Although Mali's transitional President Dioncounda Traore has announced that elections are scheduled for July 31 to end the crisis, analysts see uphill challenges ahead to restore territorial integrity and constitutional rule in the aftermath of the coup and rebellions.

from XINHUA
by Editor: Bi Mingxin
2013-02-10 12:20:43

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New Mali Rebel Group Seeks Negotiations

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)

A portion of Mali's Ansar Dine rebel group has broken away to form its own movement, and is expressing a willingness to seek a negotiated solution to the country's crisis.

In a statement issued Thursday, the newly formed Islamic Movement for Azawad also said it is ready to fight extremism.

​​Ansar Dine rebels joined with ethnic Tuaregs to seize control of northern Mali following a March coup.  Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups then took full control of the region, where they want to impose strict Islamic law.

In late December, Ansar Dine agreed to a cease-fire with the government, but suspended it earlier this month saying the government was not sincere about peace negotiations.

Islamist fighters began pushing south into government-controlled areas, prompting airstrikes from French forces acting at the request of Mali's government to halt the advance.  French and Malian troops have retaken some rebel-held areas, while a growing African intervention force continues to arrive in Mali to help fully regain control of the north.

​​U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Senate panel Wednesday that instability in Mali has created an "expanding safe haven for terrorists" who are looking to extend their reach. She said the United States and its allies have been working with Mali's neighbors to upgrade security, but that most do not have the capacity to do so.

Clinton said eliminating rebels from northern Mali is a daunting challenge.

"This is going to be a very serious ongoing threat because if you look at the size of northern Mali, if you look at the topography, it is not only desert, it is caves - sounds reminiscent.  We are in for a struggle but it is a necessary struggle.  We can not permit northern Mali to become a safe haven," she said.

Also Wednesday, a coalition of rights groups said it has reports that Malian soldiers have carried out executions and committed other human rights violations since French forces entered the country this month.

The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues said elements of the Malian army carried out executions in the towns of Sevare, Mopti and Nioro on January 10. It is calling for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the allegations.

from VOA News
January 24, 2013

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Malian Army Re-Takes Central City From Rebels

The Malian army says it has re-taken control of the central town of Konna, as French and regional forces continue to pour into the country to fight a rebel offensive.

The army says it has gained "total control" of the city after inflicting "heavy losses" on the Islamist rebels there. The militant takeover of the town last week prompted France to intervene in its former colony.

The Malian army has previously reported military successes in Konna, but the claims are difficult to verify, since journalists have had difficulty accessing the city.

The one-week-old counter-offensive by French and West African regional troops appears to have stopped the southward advance of the al-Qaida-linked fighters, but has encountered heavier than expected resistance.

Heavy fighting between French soldiers and militants was reported Thursday in the town Diabaly, which was seized this week by the rebels.

French officials say 1,400 troops are now in Mali. A total of 2,500 soldiers are expected to deploy in the coming days. France says they will stay until the situation is stable.

On Thursday, the United States agreed to help France airlift troops and equipment into the country, though the Defense Department says it has no plans to send troops to the conflict.

Meanwhile, West African military chiefs say 2,000 troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Togo will soon arrive in Mali as part of a U.N. authorized force.

As the foreign intervention entered its second week, new signs of a worsening humanitarian condition have emerged.

Doctors Without Borders Friday said civilians are in danger and that it is not able to deliver supplies to the battle-torn town of Konna. The French aid agency said all roads leading to the central town have been closed by the Malian military, despite "repeated requests" for access.

The U.N. refugee agency says it expects an increased wave of Malians to flee their homes in the coming months. An agency spokesperson said Friday it is preparing for 300,000 to be displaced inside the country and for 400,000 to leave for neighboring countries.

Al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremists seized control of northern Mali after renegade soldiers toppled the government in March, leaving a temporary power vacuum.  The militants have imposed harsh conservative Islamic law across the north.

from VOA News
January 18, 2013

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Malian rebels flee after day-long air bombardments

photo from facebook/INFOSDEFENSE.COM - Opération Serval - Mali

BAMAKO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sunday's aerial bombardments by the French army have forced rebels in Mali's northern town of Gao and its environs to flee, a well placed military source said.
The air raids were carried out by four French Rafale fighter jets. Well placed sources told Xinhua that the training grounds, the infrastructure and the logistical bases used by rebels were destroyed.

In the coming days, the Malian ground forces supported by troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are expected to comb the area to eliminate the remaining pockets of resistance.

A number of eyewitnesses told Xinhua on phone that following bombardments by four fighter jets in Gao, the rebels fled from the region's small town of Askia. The youths in Gao were "celebrating" in town, promising to support the army to chase away the rebels from the area.

Other eyewitnesses told Xinhua that fear was spreading in Timbuktu and Kidal, the two other northern towns occupied by rebels, that the flare could expand further soon.

On Sunday, the rebels were seen surrounding the local airport in Timbuktu, while efforts to get information from Kidal bore no fruit as the region's communication channels were cut off from the rest of the world.

Fierce fighting erupted between rebels and the Malian army in the central town of Konna. On Friday, France confirmed the intervention of its troops to stop rebels from advancing towards the government-held South.

from XINHUA
2013-01-14 19:09:29
Editor: Lu Hui

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More Islamist Fighters Deploy in Northern Mali

Hundreds of additional Islamist fighters have deployed in northern Mali, as neighboring countries make plans to send troops to the troubled nation.

According to witnesses, the fighters began deploying last week, after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution asking West African bloc ECOWAS to submit its plans for a Mali force.

Residents report seeing hundreds of Tunisian and Egyptian militants in the city of Gao, while many other militants went to the central town of Douentza, close to Malian army positions in Mopti.

Mali's interim government has called for help to oust Islamist militants who seized control of the north after a March military coup in the capital, Bamako.

In an interview with VOA Monday, a spokesman for Islamist group Ansar Dine said he could not confirm an influx of foreign fighters.

But the spokesman, Sanda Ould Bouamama, said Muslims have an obligation to help the militants in what he called an unjust and illegal war against Islam.

On Friday, Mali's interim president called for swift foreign intervention to retake the north.

The al-Qaida linked militants in the region have carried out public executions, amputations and floggings in an effort to enforce their strict version of Islamic law.

ECOWAS has proposed sending some 3,000 military personnel to Mali to help stabilize the country, train the army, and oust the militants.  However, some Malians object to the idea of foreign intervention.

from VOA News
October 22, 2012

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