The Malian military says it has gained control of the central Mali town
of Diabaly, a key advance in the battle against Islamist militants in
the north. FULL STORY
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UNREST CONTINUES IN MALI
Malian troops take key town; humanitarian crisis grows
January 21, 2013 -- Updated 1919 GMT (0319 HKT)
Troops move to retake key town in Mali
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A humanitarian group says many injured fear going to hospitals
- Paris-Match: Terrorist leader spells out demands and talks about the Algeria attack
- France may send more troops to prevent Islamist terrorists from controlling Mali
- The Economic Community Of West African States says it has 3,300 troops on standby
The country's forces
retook the town without ground assistance from the French troops in the
country, a military spokesman said Sunday. The French military confirmed
that it provided only air support.
French officials said
Malian forces pushed the Islamists into the forest beyond Diabaly, and
have taken control of the city and another area, Douentza. French forces
based in Markala and Niono backed up the Malians, placing their
fighting force about 600 kilometers northeast of the capital, Bamako.
In Diabaly, a CNN crew
said Islamists left after they were hit directly in one of their
makeshift camps by the French and Malians. The scene after one battle
included burned-out armored vehicles and a truck that at one point
belonged to the Islamists.
A Malian officer, Col.
Seydou Sogoba, told CNN that the Islamists were using sophisticated
weapons like he had never seen before, and he knows they are coming from
Libya.
As the crew drove into
town, the dusty streets in the extremely poor area were mostly empty
except for military vehicles and French and Malian troops. Whatever
trucks had belonged to the Islamist rebels were bombed and burned out.
Destroyed high-caliber weapons were seen in the vehicles.
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A French colonel,
exhausted from fighting and who wished not to be named, told CNN that
foreign fighters -- including those who are Algerian -- have been pushed
out of the area.
Sogoba told CNN the fight against the rebels was very hard, but he is focused on "preserving the national integrity" of Mali.
The humanitarian crisis in Mali is stark, according to the Norwegian Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
"They cannot stay where
they are due to the grave insecurity caused by the conflict," said
Sebastian Albuja, the center's head of the Africa and Americas
Department. "Yet the meager resources and the diminished coping
abilities of the government and humanitarian actors means that they are
faced with limited options."
Because Algeria has
closed its borders, people in the north are increasingly heading to the
desert, where they will face harsh conditions and real struggles over
food and water, with limited humanitarian assistance, the group said.
Many are fleeing on foot
because they can't afford boats or buses, Albuja said, and even if they
do make it, they get there only to find the roads blocked.
The group is especially
concerned about women, children and the injured who they've heard are
too afraid to go to hospitals, believing hospitals will be bombed. The
Norwegian center is very concerned about victims of rape as a weapon of
war, she said.
French involvement began
the day after militants said January 10 that they had seized the city
of Konna, east of Diabaly in central Mali.
The French are involved
in the fight because Mali once was under the country's control, and
because Islamists have been threatening to turn the once-peaceful
democracy into a haven for international terrorists.
On Monday, a French
colonel stressed to CNN that France is helping by air, but it is only
the Malians who are fighting on the ground.
Last year, ethnic
Tuaregs, who had returned to Mali well-armed from fighting for late
Libyan leader Moamar Gadhafi, staged a military coup against the Malian
government. Islamic extremists capitalized on the chaos to carve out a
large haven in Mali's north, and imposed a strict interpretation of
Sharia law. The Islamists banned music, smoking, drinking and watching
sports on television. They also destroyed historic tombs and shrines.
Those events stoked fear among global security experts that Mali could become a new hub for terrorism.
The stakes are quite
high, as seen with events in recent days in Algeria. The country allowed
France to use its airspace to take on insurgents, purportedly causing
angry militants to storm a gas field in eastern Algeria and take hostages. That lead to three days of chaos that ended Saturday with 23 hostages dead and dozens of Islamist militants killed.
Paris-Match interviews Belmoktar
On Monday, the website of the French magazine Paris-Match published an interview with the spokesman of Moktar Belmoktar,
the veteran jihadist behind the Algeria attack, said the attack was "a
90% success because we managed to reach a strategic site protected by
800 soldiers, with only 40 men."
France's "crusaders and
Zionist Jews will have to pay for its attack on the Muslims of northern
Mali," said the spokesman, Hacen Ould Khalil. "I hope France realizes
that there will be dozens of Mohammed Merahs and Khaled Kelkal(s)."
Merah,
believed to be a French national of Algerian descent, said he was a
self-styled al Qaeda-trained jihadist. He was the chief suspect in a
series of shootings, including an attack on a Jewish school, in France in 2012. He was killed in a police raid.
Kelkal was of Algerian origin and is believed responsible for a series of attacks on French soil in the 1990s.
The spokesman told the magazine that his group has contacted the French authorities and started negotiations.
"The goal was never to kill or hurt the hostages," he added.
Then he explained what al Qaeda-linked militants in the Sahara want:
The end of the French
intervention in Mali; the liberation of Omar Abdel-Rahman, "the blind
sheikh" incarcerated in the United States for his role in the 1993 World
Trade Center bombings; and the freeing of Afiaa Siddiqui, a Pakistani
scientist who is incarcerated in the United States on terrorism charges.
France denies any communication with Belmoktar's group, according to the publication.
France sending more troops?
In recent weeks, French
President Francois Hollande has said that if his country had not
intervened, Mali "probably would have fallen into the hands of
terrorists."
Now 3,150 French
soldiers have been assigned to the French mission, dubbed Operation
Serval. At least 2,150 of them are on Malian territory, the French have
said.
The government is considering sending more troops, it said Monday.
The Islamists are
well-equipped and well-trained, French officials have said. But advances
made by the Malian army toward cities that the Islamists previously
controlled "constitutes a certain military success for the Bamako
government and for French forces," said French Defense Minister
Jean-Yves le Drian.
"I reaffirm my total
confidence in our soldiers who are in combat with determination in the
mission decided by the French president." he said. "It aims to restore
sovereignty to Mali on its territory and to prevent the risk of the
constitution of a terrorist sanctuary in the heart of Africa."
Gunfire still heard in Konna and Sevare
Rebel control over
Diabaly was one of the chief concerns to Mali and France as they tried
to stop the Islamists' movement into the south.
French and Malian forces
retook Konna from militants Friday, a French source said. But gunfire
could still be heard there on Monday.
In the town of Sevare, south of Konna, roads were cordoned off and journalists restricted as battles raged.
As fighting continues, many people are being cut off and are in need of basic supplies.
The U.N. Security
Council in December authorized the deployment of an African-led
International Support Mission in Mali, and West African leaders met
Saturday in Ivory Coast to discuss speeding up deployment of troops.
The regional bloc -- the Economic Community Of West African States -- has said it has 3,300 regional troops on standby.
It urged the United Nations to provide immediate logistical and financial support for African troops.
"The escalation of
conflict in recent days reminds us of the importance of assuming our
responsibilities very quickly in a dynamic of coordination with our
partners," said Charles Koffi Diby, the Ivory Coast foreign minister.
"We should act very quickly."
'It was absolutely necessary'
Despite its unilateral
decision to get involved, France is seeking help from its regional
allies and the international community.
Christian Rouyer, French ambassador to Mali, reiterated the need for the French offensive in Mali.
"We had a friendly
country that was on the verge of dying," Rouyer said Friday. "It was
absolutely necessary to act with urgency. We did it, I believe, with
full knowledge of the reasons."
Leaders from several countries have offered troops or logistical support.
The European Union has
approved a training mission. Canada and Britain are deploying military
transport aircraft. Nigeria is set to deploy soldiers as part of the
U.N.-mandated African force to fight the insurgents.
No military aid from U.S.
U.S. policy prohibits
direct military aid to Mali because the fledgling government is the
result of a coup. No support can go to the Malian military directly
until leaders are chosen through an election, said Victoria Nuland, a
State Department spokeswoman.
So far, the United
States has only shared intelligence from intercepted signals and
satellites with France, defense officials said.
U.S. trainers will be in
African nations to prepare forces set to be deployed in Mali. Trainers
will be in Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Ghana.
The United Nations is warning of a record number of Malians fleeing to neighboring nations.
The violence could soon
displace up to 700,000 in the country and around the region, said
Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency.
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