Key bridge destroyed,

Attack near border could delay advance of African troops

SEVARE, Mali • Islamic extremists based in the Malian town of Ansongo have destroyed a bridge near the Niger border, officials said on Friday, marking the first use of explosives by the insurgents since the start of a French-led military intervention two weeks ago.

The explosion shows that the extremists remain a nimble and daunting enemy, despite gains by the French, who have recaptured three towns from the insurgents and on Friday pushed toward the Islamist stronghold of Gao, one of three provincial capitals controlled by the alQaida-linked rebels.

Djibril Diallo, the village chief of Fafa, located 20 kilometres from the bridge, said by telephone on Friday that residents had called him to confirm that members of the Movement for the Oneness and Jihad in West Africa had travelled toward the border with Niger to the outskirts of Tassiga on Thursday, before destroying the bridge crossing into the town. The rebel group, also known as MUJAO, travelled from the locality of Ansongo, about 40 kilometres from Tassiga.

Julie Damond, a spokeswoman with aid group Doctors Without Borders, which has a team in Ansongo, said no injuries were directly related to the explosion. However, several people were being treated in the Ansongo hospital after a bus they were riding in fell into a hole in the bridge caused by the blast.

The attack recalls insurgent tactics used in Iraq and Afghanistan. It appeared aimed at stopping the advance of African troops, stationed in neighbouring Niger, who are expected to travel by road into Mali past Tassiga in order to retake the strategic town of Gao. However, the bridge is not the only way to cross the body of water, said Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanate, a former deputy in Mali’s parliament from the district where Tassiga is located.

An elected official from northern Mali said that fighters belonging to MUJAO were seen on another bridge leading to Gao overnight, and there were reports that they planned to bomb it. They then abandoned the idea.

Despite these setbacks, Mali’s military and French forces pushed toward Gao on Friday, in their farthest move north and east since launching an operation two weeks ago to retake land controlled by the rebels, residents and a security official said Friday.