.
MAJOR PARTS OF MALI LIBERATED BY FRENCH TROOPS!
France Literally Went All the Way to Timbuktu to Stop the Malian Rebels
(Atlantic Wire) – People in northern Mali celebrated on Sunday night after French troops won a series of key victories over the Islamist rebels who’ve been terrorizing the region for weeks. Among the towns liberated is the fabled village of Timbuktu, the ancient Saharan trading town that is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site but is also the capital of the Timbuktu region. Before being taken by the Islamist rebels ten months ago, it was also undergoing a massive renovation project, the type of project that does not mix well with urban warfare. The French forces entered the town with little resistance, however, but expect it will take some time to clear out the town completely. “Timbuktu is delicate, you can’t just go in like that,” said one local. For now, the French have control over the airport and plan to start securing the labyrinth of streets on Monday morning.
Taking Timbuktu might’ve been cause enough for celebration, but the French made progress on a number of fronts over the weekend, most significantly in the city of Gao. The oppressive months-long occupation of Gao ended on Sunday when French troops marched into town. As the most populous town in the north, Gao represents a major victory for the French troops, one that was well received by the people. Local residents who had been prohibited from listen to music and smoking cigarettes propped speakers up in their windows and lit up in the streets. “Everyone is in the streets,” a Gao resident told The New York Times, said in a telephone interview. “It is like a party. There is music. There are drums. It’s freedom.”
French and Malian troops take Timbuktu airport
See my previous diary – Special Mali Report.
Earth architecture and the Treasures of Timbuktu
The new Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research, completed in 2009, introduces state-of-the-art
techniques for conserving, exhibiting, and studying these famous Timbuktu manuscripts.
Timbuktu library – a treasure house of centuries of Malian history
.
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.
.
Timbuktu has been a center of Islamic scholars for many centuries. Only thugs and Islamic extremists wit hno roots in Mali are able to destroy the most sacred shrines and culture of the local people. The Ansar El-Dine has released a statement they have split and the Tuareg people want to rid itself of the extremist who have imposed rigid Shari’a law. Some factions want to support the French and fight on their side. This is most common as is seen in Syria, the fighters want to join the militia groups with the best weapons and supplies. Allegiance is to the group with most power. Unfortunately, those groups are the Salafists (Al-Nusra) who get tens of millions from Saudi charities and the Qatar monarchy.
Maybe we should outsource our foreign military adventures to France as long as Hollande remains President. Not that there weren’t several unique conditions in Mali that facilitated the intervention by France. But still, the French forces have been impressive.