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French, Malians secure Timbuktu in rebel-held north
(Reuters) – French and Malian troops were restoring government control over the fabled Saharan trading town of Timbuktu on Sunday, the latest gain in a fast-moving French-led offensive against al Qaeda-allied fighters occupying northern Mali.
The Islamist militant rebels have pulled back northwards to avoid relentless French air strikes that have destroyed their bases, vehicles and weapons, allowing French and Malian troops to advance rapidly with air support and armored vehicles.
A Malian military source said the French and Malian forces reached “the gates of Timbuktu” late on Saturday without meeting resistance from the Islamist insurgents who had held the town since last year.
The French and Malians controlled the airport and were working on securing the town, a UNESCO World Heritage site and labyrinth of ancient mosques and monuments and mud-brick homes, ready to flush out any Islamist fighters still hiding. “Timbuktu is delicate, you can’t just go in like that.”
On Saturday, the French-Malian offensive recaptured Gao, which along with Timbuktu was one of three major northern towns occupied last year by Tuareg and Islamist rebels who included fighters from al Qaeda’s North Africa wing AQIM.
Mali’s sharia amputee victims face bleak future
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France gives the Islamists a bloody nose and looks like the wackos were caught by surprise. Good job. Mali does not seem eager for rule by foreign jihadists.
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From BooMan’s fp story – Obama is human and makes mistakes.
“… some stupid warlord making trouble in Mali”
Obama called French president Hollande to refrain him from putting boots on the ground in Mali. The trouble in Northern Mali was instigated by Gaddafi’s mercenaries and heavy arms lost after the conflict. Obama wanted to wait for African troops from ECOWAS nations to take the lead. That would have meant a delay of months and Mali’s south and its capital would have been overrun by rebels. The Tuareg Malian soldiers trained by US Special Forces had defected to the rebel cause last year.
Hollande disagreed and made the decision to halt the push south by the rebels and has been succesful. The Malian people are grateful to the French as the African nations are only beginning to send their troops into Mali. These soldiers are poorly trained and ill-quipped to cope in a desert terrain.
Obama has nothing to do with the French effort in Mali! Obama’s hands are tight by Congress as he is prohibited to act in Mali. Only after three weeks the Pentagon is supplying planes to refuel French Mirage fighter planes traveling extreme long distances from their African bases to a country twice the size of Afghanistan or France.
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What is Huddleston‘s agenda to come forward with her personal “WikiLeaks” embarrassment for the French campaign in Mali? This is her second intervention in recent days.